Expanding the conceptualisation of the Art of Caring.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the concept Art of Caring and expand its conceptualization in the Nursing discipline.

METHODS

A conceptual analysis in Spanish and English was developed based on the steps proposed by Walker and Avant.

FINDINGS

Five principal historical stages of development of the concept were identified. Attributes, antecedents, consequences, and cases are provided. An analogy is proposed to illustrate this concept through the representation of a four-dimensional figure (tesseract).

CONCLUSIONS

Art of Caring embeds the core disciplinary nursing knowledge. Exploring this concept leads to a broad perspective of Nursing and the act of caring, with the potential of uniting the discipline globally.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

With the increasing use of Nursing knowledge in different languages, the global understanding of its foundations is key for advancement of the discipline. This concept analysis provides tools to help nurses to understand and be understood regardless of linguistic differences.