The situation of hospital humanistic caring practice in China: a bibliometric study

Abstract

Objective To analyze the situation of the hospital humanistic caring in our country and provide a reference for the later humanistic nursing practice and research. Methods Relevant literature were searched in Chinese Biomedical Database, Wanfang Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure from their establishment to June 2016 and analyzed with bibliometric methods. Results A total of 181 studies were included. The data analysis showed an increasing trend since 2004. Humanistic nursing was more applied to the vast general hospitals in the eastern coastal region of China (60%, 108/181). Besides, the humanistic nursing researches were mainly in single department. Of the total, random control trial accounted for the most substantial proportion (61%, 111/181). 40% of the researchers considered the human environment, psychological care and communication as the most crucial humanistic nursing measures. Assessment index including satisfaction, psychology was mostly used to evaluate the effect of these measures. Conclusions Humanistic nursing is practiced widely. However, there are still some problems in the research methods. There are no standards of practice and evaluation, so these need to be further explored. Key words: Humanistic caring; Status of practice; Bibliometric study