title: Concept analysis: patient autonomy in a caring context.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This paper is a report of an analysis of the concept of patient autonomy
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Many problems regarding patient autonomy in healthcare contexts derive from the patient's dependent condition as well as the traditional authoritarian position of healthcare professionals. Existing knowledge and experience reveal a lack of consensus among nurses regarding the meaning of this ethical concept.
  
  
  METHODS
  Concept analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medline, CINAHL, The Cochrane Library and PsycINFO were searched (2005-June 2013) using the search blocks 'autonomy', 'patient' and 'nursing/caring'. A total of 41 articles were retrieved.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Evolutionary Method of Concept Analysis by Rodgers was used to identify and construct the meaning of the concept of patient autonomy in a caring context.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five attributes were identified, thus creating the following descriptive definition: 'Patient autonomy is a gradual, time-changing process of (re-)constructing autonomy through the interplay of to be seen as a person, the capacity to act and the obligation to take responsibility for one's actions'. Patient vulnerability was shown to be the antecedent of patient autonomy and arises due to an impairment of a person's physical and/or mental state. The consequences of patient autonomy were discussed in relation to preserving control and freedom.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patient autonomy in a caring context does not need to be the same before, during and after a care episode. A tentative model has been constructed, thus extending the understanding of this ethical concept in a caring context.
authors.affiliation: Blekinge Institute of Technology, Karlskrona, Sweden; Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, Sweden.
authors.forename: Catharina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lindberg
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fagerström
authors.forename: Bengt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sivberg
authors.forename: Ania
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Willman
mesh_terms: D016206:Databases, Bibliographic; D006801:Humans; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology*; D026684:Personal Autonomy
keywords: caring; concept analysis; nurses; nursing; patient autonomy