Creating a Culture of Caring in the Perianesthesia Practice

Caring has been described as the essence of nursing. What nurses do as they care for patients and others is multi-dimensional, complex, and essential. Nursing\u27s ability to clearly define and articulate what caring is guides the ethics, values, decisions, and foundations of nursing practice. Caring evokes a range of perceptions, feelings, and experiences for the patient and nurse in the perianesthesia specialty setting. Caring as a pillar of the nursing profession is explored on several levels for the perianesthesia setting. Aspects of caring include perceptions of caring, what denotes a caring environment, the role of nursing leadership in a caring environment, the impact of caring and healing for patients, nurses, and others in the health care field. A proposed model for nursing practice based upon Watson\u27s concepts of caritas nursing and its processes provides the theoretical framework for the nursing professionals and the patients and families served. Interventions that have been currently implemented in the perianesthesia setting of a Midwestern hospital along with a proposed outline for future plans are reviewed and future plans outlined