Commentary on Liu J, Mok E and Wong T (2006) Caring in nursing: investigating the meaning of caring from the perspective of cancer patients in Beijing, China. Journal of Clinical Nursing 15, 188–196.

The article comments on a paper which examines the meaning of caring from the perspective of cancer patients in Beijing, China. The author stresses that the study is important as a deeper understanding of what caring means to patients with cancer is warranted. She asserts that the researchers do not consider the resource in which the caring relationship occurs. She emphasizes that the idea that nurses and people with cancer share the same understanding of the need of patients is unfounded.