[The Positionality of Caring Action: Small Group Dialogue in a Course on Nursing Ethics]

The content of nursing-ethics education has typically focused on the external standards of caring behavior and neglected the relationship between the ethical attitudes and internal experiences of caregivers.

To explore the embodied experience in order to define the positionality of caring action, which is necessary to enrich the content of nursing ethics through small-group-learning-based dialogue.

The researcher, as a participant observer, teaches a course on nursing ethics. Reflective analysis was used to analyze the data from the process of small group learning, a reflective group of faculty members, and 30 reflective journals submitted by 10 students.

The results identified three items that were related to the positionality of caring action: the attitudes of belief, including the choice to belief and deep understanding; articulating the value system, including exploring affectivity and positionality; and cultivating the self through self-dialogues and dialogues with others.

The attitudes of belief promote trust in interpersonal relationships. Articulating the value system deepens the meaning of caring. Cultivating the self may facilitate the ethical self.