On being cared for by a nurse

The hospitalised patient's experiences of nursing care, the nature and the value of the patient's and nurse's relationships are relatively unexplored territory in terms of Australian research. This is despite the importance and centrality of caring to the practice of nursing and the very significant contributions that overseas researchers have made to understanding the phenomenon of care in nursing practice. Given the social, economic and cultural differences between Australia and other countries, a study which examines Australian perspectives of the nursing caring experience is long overdue. That caring makes a difference to the patient's sense of well being should come as no surprise to those of us who care. In this paper the writer aims to demonstrate how that difference comes about.