Caring Behaviors: Perceptions of Acute Care Nurses and Hospitalized Patients with Diabetes

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The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of caring behaviors that influence the patient experience in acute care nurses and hospitalized patients with diabetes.

Nurses are the caregivers who render most of the direct care patients receive while they are hospitalized. Understanding what patients perceive as caring behaviors is essential in tailoring nursing interventions to meet patient needs.

Data collection occurred at a 1,200 bed, nonprofit academic medical center located in the Midwest.

Sixty-four nurses and 54 patients with diabetes were queried about their experience with diabetes caring behaviors.

Nurses consistently reported providing caring behaviors more frequently than patients reported receiving them.

This study has implications for understanding the patient experience in the hospital setting specifically related to patient education. Providing patient education is an important caring intervention that directly affects the patient experience. However, none of the patients in this study identified this as a caring behavior used by nurses.