Caring is the essence of nursing and a core value of the profession of nursing (Beck, 1992; Bevis & Watson, 1989; National League for Nursing (NLN), 2011; Roach, 2008; Swanson, 1991; Touhy & Boykin, 2008; Watson, 1985b). There is theoretical agreement amongst researchers that caring can be learned through interactions with faculty in an environment characterized by supportive faculty-student relationships (Beck, 1992; Gaines & Baldwin, 1996). In the virtual world of online nursing education, caring behaviors displayed by faculty are difficult to convey over wires and screens where there is a lack of the spoken voice, gestures and human connection that is vital to nursing (Plante & Asselin, 2014). Text-based language often replaces the multidimensional physical characteristics of communication such as tone of voice, facial expressions and body language contributing to a potential disconnection between the faculty teacher, computer screen and student sitting in front of it. The challenge is to discover ways in which caring behaviors are demonstrated in online nursing education. A mixed method research design, grounded on Watson's theory of human caring (Watson, 1996), was used to discover which of the carative factors most highly or is least likely to demonstrate caring in an online nursing course. The quantitative aspect of the study identified caring behaviors perceived by online RN-BSN degree nursing students using a modified version of the Nursing Students' Perception of Instructor Caring instrument (Wade & Kasper (2006). Data analysis indicated Watson's first carative factor, formation of humanistic-altruistic system of values, was most important and perceived most highly when faculty displayed kindness, made themselves available to students, clearly communicated expectations, were attentive during communications, and made the student feel that they can be successful. In addition to the quantitative instrument, study participants described examples of behaviors that communicated caring in online nursing courses. The findings from this research provided contemporary data to identify which specific faculty behaviors support nursing students feeling cared for in an online nursing course. Implications for nursing education and further research are presented.

Faculty-student relationships include overlapping concepts of caring and presence, both of which can have an impact on learning outcomes, satisfaction, and retention. Students of varying generations may have different attitudes and expectations for their academic experience concerning technology and the faculty-student relationship. Based upon the Theory of Human Caring (Watson, 1979) and the Community of Inquiry Framework (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 1999), the purpose of this study was to explore how students of different generations perceived caring behaviors by faculty and presence in online RN-BSN pregrams. The study utilized the Organizational Climate for Caring Questionnaire (Hughes, 1993) to measure students' perceptions of faculty caring behaviors, the Community of Inquiry Survey Instrument (Arbaugh et al., 2008) to measure students' perceptions of presence, and a researcher-developed demographic questionnaire. Participants were recruited from online RN-BSN programs within the northeast region of the United States to complete an online survey. Results showed no difference between generational perceptions of caring; however, millennials reported statistically significant higher perceptions of social presence when compared with non-millennials. Although generation was not a predictor of caring, all Presence subscales were positively and significantly correlated with the total caring score. Also, the number of online courses a student has taken was negatively and significantly correlated with total caring scores. Teaching presence and the reported number of online courses were significant predictors of the students' perceptions of caring in online courses.