Machine technologies and caring in nursing.

Machine technologies and caring in nursing can be harmonious aspects of clinical nursing practice. The perception of technology and caring as dichotomous is so pervasive that one who is technologically proficient may often be assumed to be incapable of expressing caring. Within a framework of nursing as caring, true technologic competence in clinical nursing practice can be understood as an expression of caring. As such, technological competence assumes an indispensable place in contemporary clinical nursing practice. Nowhere is the link between machine technologies and caring demonstrated more clearly than in the practice of nursing in critical care. A model is presented to illustrate this concurrence.