Patient Engagement Through Informed Nurse Caring

Abstract

Caring in nursing is well established as fundamental to the nurse–patient relationship. Swanson (1991) defines caring as a “nurturing way of relating to a valued other toward whom one feels a personal sense of commitment and responsibility” (p. 165). The care provided by nurses should be informed (Swanson, 1993). The Nursing Alliance for Quality Care suggests that engaged patients enter into a partnership with nurses though which there is a mutual sharing of information (Sofaer & Schumann, 2013). Efforts to increase patient engagement may be enhanced through informed nurse caring. The purpose of this article is to discuss the promotion of patient engagement as informed caring practice, within the framework of a middle range theory of caring (Swanson, 1991, 1993) well suited for practical application.