Congruence Between Nurses' Caring Behaviors and Patients' Perceptions of Being Cared for During Disaster Responses

Abstract

Caring has been defined as a benevolent act, human trait, and moral necessity. This paper explores the caring concept from perspectives of nurses and patients receiving care. A case is made for nurses' caring behaviors and patients' perceptions of how they ought to be cared to be congruent. Theorists' formulations and studies on nurse caring and disasters are reviewed. The caring moment goes beyond clinical settings; it can be experienced during natural disasters. A narrative of the author's caring during a disaster response is described, together with a generated disaster response model inspired by nurse theorists and philosophers' viewpoints on caring phenomena.