The Concept of “Care” as Perceived by Greek Nursing Students: a Focus Group Approach.

Background: Care is a basic concept of nursing. Despite the universality of the phenomenon of care, a worldwide accepted definition does not exist. There is also a dispute about the perception of the carer's role within the framework of personal and professional relationships. Caring for people embraces moral norms and values, a desire, and a dedication to this purpose. Aim: To explore and understand nursing students' perceptions regarding the concept of care. Method: A focus group approach was implemented. An especially designed instrument was used which included questions for eliciting the participants' social and demographic characteristics as well as open-ended questions for capturing the students' understanding of the concept of care. Results: The categories and subcategories that emerged from the data are: “Care as an emotional offer”, “Care as a service”, “Care as a bodily and psychological support”, “Care of an individual or a group”, “Care as a constant phenomenon”. Conclusions: All aspects of care are necessary in order to cover the full range of human needs for care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]