TOPIC. The term nursing care is widely used throughout nursing and allied health literature; however, the meaning of the term is not clear. PURPOSE. The purpose of this analysis is to explore the essence of the term nursing care and to develop an operational definition of the concept. SOURCES OF INFORMATION. Using the Walker and Avant (2005) method, dictionaries, thesauruses, and current nursing literature are studied for meanings, usages, and attributes. Model, borderline, and contrary cases are also presented. CONCLUSIONS. Intended as a preliminary exploration of nursing care, this work serves as the foundation for further study of the concept.