Caring presence. Delineation of a concept for holistic nursing

Interest in presence within a caring relationship has gained renewed attention in the past decade. For five decades, presence has been implicit and explicit in nursing theory. Recognizing caring presence as important to nursing, the 13th Annual Caring Research Conference in 1992 spotlighted the topic. Yet few publications appeared in nursing literature between the years 1980 to 1991. Since that time, interest in and literature about the topic has greatly increased. The elusive nature of the phenomenon, however, makes it difficult to define. This article presents a review of literature of presence and suggests a working definition that could be used as the basis for research. Placing presence within the context of caring provides a way for the holistic nurse to offer caring-healing ways of being and relating.