Abstract
This study aimed to develop and test the instrument of the caring behavior of nursing students in the Intensive Care Unit. The caring behavior domains were formulated and prepared according to the significant findings from the review of literature on the carative factors of Jean Watson. All third and fourth year Bachelor of Science in Nursing students of the University of Hail were recruited as respondents based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Content validity was reviewed by an expert panel. Data analyses were performed using Stata SE 13. Quantitative variables were presented as means and standard deviations. The internal consistency reliability of each domain was calculated as Cronbach's alpha 1.00; very high from 0.81 to 0.99; high from 0.61 to 0.80; moderate from 0.41 to 0.60; low from 0.21 to 0.40; and very low from 0 to 0.20. Using the developed tool, sixty-nine (94.52%) Bachelor of Science in Nursing students actively participated in the study. Ages of respondents are from 21 to 44 years old (M= 26, SD +/- 5.67). Seven caring behavior items were rated outstanding, being sensitive to patients' rights, (4.58 +/- 0.85) monitoring patient's vital signs (4.55 +/- 0.83) provide privacy (4.58 +/- 0.88) awareness of patients' health problems (4.55 +/- 0.72), hand washing (4.59 +/- 0.81), performs nursing procedures (4.57 +/- 0.90). This study demonstrated that perceptions of caring behaviors among Saudi nursing students were congruent to the results of other related studies on the most and least important caring behaviors. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by IASE.