[Can the art of caring survive?]

The direction that health care has taken in the past few years indicates an urgent need for new models of thinking and new interventions in health care institutions. Despite all of the changes, the nurse remains the one social being the patient can rely on for interpersonal relationships. Can the art of caring, which is at the root of nursing, survive present-day economic pressures? Is it still a useful, accessible and important tool for therapeutic contact? This article, written as a testimonial, gives the author's insights, examples and a short case history on the subject of caring. The author discusses organizational frameworks of health care institutions and encourages readers to review their own nursing practice as a means of improving within their own institutions. Key elements of caring such as altruistic values, sensibility to oneself and others, and the trust-hope relationship are presented. The author's objective is to invite further discussion and promote awareness of the threat to the art of caring.