Nurses' Living Caritas Processes as Described by Mothers, Fathers, and Grandmothers in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Infants who are born premature require hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). In this study, 10 parents and seven grandmothers were interviewed with the purpose of exploring their experiences of having a premature infant in the NICU being cared for by nurses whose practice was grounded in Watson's theory of human caring caritas processes. Qualitative descriptive analysis revealed expressions of the caring moment lived as an intentional presence, within the context of the caritas processes to care for the infant and family, with loving-kindness, helping trusting relationship, creating caring healing environment, and allowing for hope and miracles.