Priorities of Caring Behaviors from Critical Care Nurses Viewpoints

Caring is central to the nature of nursing. Due to the special conditions of patients in the critical care wards, caring behaviors are important to be considered. Despite the important role of nurses in quality of care, viewpoints of nurses on the caring behaviors are unclear. This study investigated the views of critical care nurses toward caring behaviors priorities. In this descriptive-correlative study, 200 critical care nurses were selected based on the stratified random sampling. Data were collected using the Caring Questionnaire developed by Larson. Caring behaviors were ranked on a 5-point Likert-type scale with 57 caring behavior items ordered in six subscales. The data were analyzed using the statistical methods in the SPSS-21.0. Results showed that the highest priority was related to the "confident communication with patients" and the lowest priority was related to the "being accessible" and "anticipation". Furthermore, nurses ages had significant relationship with physical relaxation, confident relationship and follow-ups through subgroups (p=0.01). Female nurses ranked "monitors and follow-ups through" higher than male nurses (p=0.01). Most nurses based their work according to the confident communication with patients. The availability and anticipated needs of the patients care were identified as the lowest priorities. Providing long-term and short-term programs by policymakers in order to conduct appropriate trainings are recommended.