Nurses' perspectives of self-awareness in nursing practice: A descriptive qualitative study

Self-awareness is essential for nurses for improving nurse-patient relationship and patient care. There are many theories about self-awareness, but scant research explores nurses' perspectives regarding self-awareness and its significance for themselves and patient care. This study explores nurses' perspectives regarding self-awareness in nursing, the importance of self-awareness for nurses, and its influence on patient care. We used a descriptive qualitative design. Face-to-face semistructured interviews were conducted, from October to December 2018, with a purposive sample of 13 nurses at two hospitals in Pakistan. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis. Five themes and 13 subthemes were generated. The themes included the meaning of self-awareness: a personal, professional, and conscientious attribute, significance of self-awareness for nurses, self-aware nurses and its impact on patient care, behaviors, and actions signifying self-awareness, and what is needed to enhance self-awareness. Self-awareness can increase nurses' confidence in managing challenging situations and providing culturally competent care to patients from various cultural and religious orientations.