1. I focused on recognizing patients by name, being certain I was correct about their names, and using their names often and appropriately. I also introduced myself. Names were viewed as supportive to the internalization of personal identification, dignity, and worth. 2. I interpreted, taught, and gave as much honest information as I could about patients' situations when it was sought or when puzzlement was apparent. This was based in the belief that it was their life, and choice was their prerogative as they were their own projects. 3. I verbalized my acceptance of patients' expressions of feeling with explanations of why I experienced these feelings of acceptance when I could do this authentically and appropriately. 4. When verbalizations of acceptance were not appropriate, I acted out this acceptance by staying with or doing for when appropriate. 5. I expressed purposely, to burst asunder negative self-concepts, my authentic human tender feelings for patients when appropriate and acceptable. 6. I supported patients' rights to agape-type love relationships with others: families, other staff, and other patients. 7. I showed respect for patients as persons with the right to make as many choices for themselves as their current capabilities allowed. 8. I attempted to help patients consider their currently expressed feelings and behaviors in light of past life experiences and patterns, like and unlike their current ones. {100} 9. I encouraged patients' expression to better understand their behavioral messages and to enable me to respond overtly as therapeutically as possible. 10. I verified my intuitive grasp of how patients were experiencing events by questions and comments and being alert to their responses. 11. I attempted to encourage hope realistically through discussing individual therapeutic gains that could be derived from patients' investment in therapeutic opportunities available to them. 12. I supported appropriate patient self-images with as many concrete "hard to denies" as possible. Each of these nurse behaviors was repeatedly evident in the months of recording patient-nurse interactions. For the conceptualization of the term "comfort," a representative clinical example was given to enhance the meaning of the behavior cited (see Appendix). When compiling materials for the conceptualization of this term, I found 12 assumptions about psychiatric nursing that I had written for the theory course in one of the first class sessions. Although these assumptions were expressed in different words, their congruence with my 12 selected behaviors made me believe that these behaviors were somehow verified both in my conceptualized philosophy of psychiatric nursing and in my behavior while being a psychiatric nurse.