A caring model for nursing education

Abstract With the many changes occurring within the health system and nursing education, ongoing shortages in the number of nurses and nursing faculty, increased incidences of incivility, and the charge to transform nursing education while upholding and transmitting the core professional values, a better understanding of the climate within nursing education is warranted. Caring is a core value of the profession of nursing and has received much attention and study, primarily in the practice setting. In nursing education much of this work has centered on the structure and processes of nursing education and the nursing student’s development of caring behaviors. This article proposes a caring model for nursing education that integrates the key concepts of organizational climate, leadership, and caring theories. The intent of the model is to provide a framework that can be used for professional nursing education that incorporates the core value of caring and develops graduates prepared to provide relationship-based, patient-centered care.