[Typology of nursing care according to hospitalized clients: scientific-technical and expressive dimensions].

This qualitative-descriptive study was carried out in a university hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from August, 2007 to December, 2008. Nursing care was described and characterized based on the perceptions of 26 hospitalized patients. Data collection was carried out through interviews and the "Almanac" creative and sensitivity technique, followed by thematic content analysis from which the following category emerged: "Nursing care dimensions from the subjects' perspectives scientific-technical and expressive". The results show that these dimensions should be manifested in a coordinated way and integral care should be designed and constructed in the relationship with the other. The participants value and defend an alliance between these dimensions and expect nurses to integrate them into care actions. Knowledge about the patients' perceptions concerning hospital care collaborates to the promotion of the environment and favors its restoration through effective care generated in this relationship.