Creativity in Nursing Care: A Concept Analysis

Abstract

The aim of this study was to present the concept analysis of creativity in nursing care using the Walker and Avant (2019) approach. In this regard, the keywords "creativity" and "nursing care" were searched through PubMed, Ovid, Scopus, EMBASE, Google Scholar, SID, and Web of Science between the years 2000 and 2018 along with hand searching of reference lists extracted from more than 342 articles. Finally, 37 articles that had inclusion criteria were examined based on the eight stages mentioned in Walker and Avant's concept analysis approach. Results revealed that creativity in nursing care includes fluidity of mind and the creation and acceptance of new ideas for patient care in such a way that the new methods are simple, useful, efficient, affordable, and safe. This requires a creative vision, creative sensitivity, and creative thinking. If there is a supportive environment, motivation, sensitivity, and divergent thinking skills, individuals can demonstrate their creativity. This may result in successful decision-making in the clinical setting and therefore contribute to increasing the organization's effectiveness and the quality of care. All nurses can act as agents encouraging change by the use of creativity to improve the quality of care. It is an educational guide for future nurses to implement creativity in practice. Also, this finding can be used for future research and the development of specific tools. Finally, it is suggested to consider creativity in the other aspects of clinical practice as well.