Journal of medical ethics and history of medicine
-
J Med Ethics Hist Med · Jan 2010
Caring relationship: the core component of patients' rights practice as experienced by patients and their companions.
The aim of this article is to describe how Iranian patients and their companions explain their lived experiences with caring relationships in a central teaching hospital in Tehran, Iran. Despite a large number of theoretical articles on this topic, the meaning of caring is still ambiguous, particularly in specific cultures. In Iran, there is not enough qualitative evidence on this topic to indicate what patients actually mean when they refer to caring relationship. ⋯ Patient-centered care, compassion, effective communication, support/advocacy, informed participation and meeting patients' basic needs were found to be the key elements in defining caring relationships. These themes were all described as elements of patients' rights practice issues. The results indicated that it is necessary for care givers/nurses to understand the person who will receive care in order to provide zealous and authentic care, because feeling "to be cared for" is even more important than providing the "care" itself.