Caring behaviors of advanced practice nursing students

The purpose of this project was to provide advanced practice nursing (APN) students with the opportunity to enrich their aesthetic knowing and acquire the meaning of caring in their practice by reflecting on their caring narratives. Students were asked to write about a caring encounter they experienced in their practice. The instructor analyzed and organized that data from each narrative. The instructor shared the data with the students for reflection and discussion. This report focuses on the caring practices of the APN students. Nine themes that embraced physical care, communication, comfort, presence, knowing, acceptance, touch, collaboration, and encouragement were identified. The APN students demonstrated aesthetic knowing as well as other ways of knowing in their caring narratives. Through reflection on the caring experiences and discussion in class, students were able to identify the meaning of caring in their practice.