Patients and Nursing Students #x2019; Viewpoints on the Importance of Caring Behaviors in a Hospital Affiliated to Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences in Iran

Background: Effective caring depends on the agreement between patients and nurses’ care behaviors. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate patients and nursing students’ viewpoints about the importance of caring behaviors in a hospital affiliated to Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences in Iran. Methods: In this descriptive and analytic study, 50 patients and 50 nurses were selected using the convenience sampling method. Data were collected by the Larson questionnaire. This self-report questionnaire was completed by the patients and students, and then the data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical statistics in SPSS. Results: The patients considered availability, education, and communication as the most important caring behaviors in caring, while the nursing students deemed comfort and convenience, appropriate communication, and monitoring and follow-up as the most significant behaviors in caring. Nursing students and patients’ viewpoints were not in agreement in the most important and relatively most important caring behaviors (P 0.05). However, their viewpoints concorded regarding insignificant caring behaviors (P 0.05). Conclusions: Based on the results of this study, further attention should be focused on patient needs in clinical nursing students’ education is necessary.