Scientific production of nursing about self-care: an integrative review

Abstract

Objective: to learn about the scientific production of nursing care regarding self-care. Method: an integrative review was conducted, data were collected on the basis of Latin American Literature data and Caribbean Health Sciences Library and the Scientific Electronic Library Online, through the descriptors: nursing and self-care. Eighteen articles were found and used to constitute the analysis corpus. Such articles were published between 2003 and 2013. For data analysis a table containing relevant variables to the characterization of articles and discursive textual analysis. Results: four categories emerged concerning self-care, lack of care, self-care in professional training and self-care as an ethical principle of nursing work. Conclusion: the findings of this study may contribute to the production of knowledge in nursing, expanding the appreciation of self-care to care for others.