Exploring the art of nursing among bedside nurses working in an tertiatry care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan

Background: Nursing in its philosophy, is both science and art. There lies varied description of the art of nursing within nursing literature. Expressions like patient centeredness, skillful nursing activity with creativity, a process of transforming patient from illness to Wellness, understanding the meaning and experiences of patients\u27 suffering, and creating coherence within that experience; all explain the art of nursing. Artful nursing has been recognized as an important nursing praxis and an essential element of holistic nursing practice since the time of Nightingale. However, it is being astonishingly deteriorating and neglected in all the aspects of the nursing profession, including nursing education, nursing practice, and nursing research. This study provided an opportunity for nurses working in a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, to reflect upon and discover the unexplored dimensions of the art of nursing. Methodology: The study was guided by a qualitative exploratory descriptive design, and a purposeful sampling strategy was applied to recruit the study participants. The study sample included 10 staff nurses working in six different units of the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Karachi, Pakistan. The data was collected through one on one interview, using a semi-structured interview guide. The data analysis was done manually using the five steps of content analysis, as described by Creswell (2013). Results Four major themes emerged from the analysis of the in-depth interviews: artful nursing embedded in humane responsiveness, artful nursing as a healing power, artful nursing as a satisfying experience, and artful nursing being invisible in nursing practice. Conclusion: Pakistani nurses articulate the meaning of nursing as an art upon reflection. They know that nursing art promotes satisfaction for both patients and nurses and they all struggle to make it a reality in practice. But, there are challenges that they face while practicing the art of nursing, which prevents artful nursing from becoming a permanent feature of the nursing practice for nurses in Pakistan. The researcher suggests several recommendations for nursing education, nursing practice, and nursing research, to ensure the visibility of the art of nursing as an integral element of the nursing profession