Therapeutic reciprocity: a caring phenomenon.

Fully realizing the power that caring can create in practice demands attention to those aspects of nurse-client relations that promote effective caring. The thesis of this article is that therapeutic reciprocity, as one phenomenon of caring, allows both the nurse and the client to benefit from their relationship in a mutually empowering manner. Through concept analysis it becomes evident that therapeutic reciprocity extends commitment to an ethic of caring from a morally correct position to a nourishing life force in professional nursing. The riches of caring are affirmed, and one path to their realization is illuminated.