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Just as in many countries all over the world, the number of older people in Italy has increased rapidly. Consequently, an increasing number of nurses are engaged in the care of older patients. However, due to a lack of understanding of how nurses and patients perceive caring, nursing care may be compromised. The aim of this study is to explore, describe and compare the perceptions of gerontological nurses and patients related to the dimensions of caring in nursing in an Italian hospital setting.

In this qualitative descriptive study, a variety of analytic techniques were used to analyse semi‐structured interview data from a purposeful sample of 20 nurses and 20 patients from geriatric units in two different Italian hospitals.

Although both nurses and patients gave rich descriptions of caring experiences, patients described features of caring in nursing that were visible (including nurses' caring …