Setting boundaries: a strategy for precarious ordering of women's caring demands

Under the conditions of health care reform, women increasingly are being called upon to assume caring responsibilities. There is little research about the process of women's caring. The findings of this feminist grounded theory study of women caring in diverse situations reveal the strategies women use to manage the dissonance created by caring demands. The strategy of setting boundaries, and subprocesses of determining legitimacy and attending to one's own voice provide an explanation of the processes employed by women to limit the number and extent of caring demands and to draw on self-knowledge to order their caring. This explanatory framework has potential to guide the practice of nurses and other health professionals working with women caring for themselves and others. In addition, these findings contribute to understanding the place of reciprocity, commitment, and affection in the phenomena of caring.