Concepts Of Health And Nursing

others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” My precept is that it lies at the heart of all

Compassion has little to no boundries. In almost every great story there is a specific character or a group of characters that help the protagonist because they feel bad for them. Compassion is the most important aspect of a functioning society; therefore, Elie Wiesel’s Night, 12 Angry Men by Reginald Rose, and the generosity of spirit shown by the average citizen after the recent shooting in Las Vegas are all perfect examples.

When one thinks about nursing, caring, empathy, and compassion come to mind. There exists a link, an unbreakable union, for nurses that "compassion fatigue

Compassion, though seemingly straight-forward, is actually a complex beast, springing from a variety of sources, including some less than flattering ones. These sources can include pity, fear, and self advancement, which are rarely associated with something as “good” as being compassionate. However, in “On Compassion”, by Barbara Ascher argues that compassion is something that must be learned through experience, not something one is born knowing, by giving examples of the actions of those who have enough towards those who do not, in order to stress the importance of taking note of others and their situations.

According to Burkhartd (), “compassion is the ability to imagine oneself in the situation of another” (p.50). Majority of the population has experienced a form of illness or another at some point in life. Previous encounters with particular situations help people to understand exactly what someone is going through. A nurse may come across a patient who is suffering from the same type of cancer that his/her grandfather once did or a child who fractured the same bone he/she did during childhood. Previous experiences don’t have to be lived to fully understand each situation, sometimes repetitious occurrences help. For example, the nurse could also understand a particular circumstance because he/she cared for many others who suffered from the same illness. It helps the nurse remember what if this were my grandfather, who was in the exact situation? What helped the most when that happened to me? These prior experiences bring about feelings of compassion and motivation to care for this patient with the best of his/her abilities. The essential nursing value of altruism also motivates people to help those in need. As a healthcare provider, it’s important to have faith in the human race and have a sincere concern for human beings. Without the concern for mankind there would be no desire to help those in

Health caregivers are the group of people mostly at risk of developing compassion fatigue. Most of the times, compassion fatigue may be as a result of the situations the care providers encountered and the pain they feel for their patients. One of the vital element of healthcare is providing a compassionate care. Compassion is defined as being aware of other people suffering, and desire to help to them reduce the suffering (Ruysschaert, 2009). Compassion fatigue is seen as a form of burnout that affect the health care provider which manifest itself as physical, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion (Lynch & Lobo, 2012). The four major factors that can lead to compassion fatigue are, giving others too much caring and not enough care to self, unresolved past trauma, inability to control stress at work, and lack of satisfaction in the work (Ruysschaert, 2009). Compassion fatigue occurs when the caregivers are milked of their sense of wellbeing, comfort, their purpose in life, strength and all the good qualities they have. It is important for those that caring for others to also pay attention to their own needs. Taking care of your own needs means that you will be healthy and therefore be more able to care for others. The caregiver needs to be able to recognize and discuss compassion in order to avoid it.

Compassion fatigue is the combination of physical, emotional, and spiritual depletion associated with caring for patients in significant emotional pain and physical distress (Anewalt, 2009; Figley, 1995). It is something that can happen to any nurse being overwhelmed in one or more areas of life and/or work. There are multiple ways a nurse can cope with compassion fatigue, and the article gives two great case studies. The first is of the reactive nurse who ultimately runs away from her issues but never truly fixes why she had the fatigue at all. The second is of a proactive nurse who used the resources provided to pull out of the fatigue and ended up in a better position because of it. Some keys points are made about

Compassion and respect are essential attitudes for nursing practice. Compassion has been described as the “wounding of the heart” or a

Compassion fatigue is a problem in caregiving professions, including nursing, and even more specifically critical care nursing. The effects can be detrimental to the nurse and to the care provided to patients. While attempting to enhance a patient’s quality of life, nurses may not even realize that their own quality of life may be at stake. (pg 17).

Compassion is very important when working closely with patients in the hospital. Compassion means your attitude represents that you truly care about a person and their situation, you can empathize and try to understand

When one thinks about nursing, caring, empathy, and compassion come to mind. There exists a link, an unbreakable union, for nurses that "compassion fatigue is the cost of caring for others in pain" (Boyle, 2015, p. 49). Compassion fatigue (CF) and its impact on nurses are predominating problems in various Emergency Departments (ED). Nurses perform a number of procedures throughout the day; however, the essential item that they deliver the utmost is themselves (Harris & Quinn-Griffin, 2015). Nurses provide care, succor, kindness, and tenderness to patients, families, other nurses; support to doctors and advanced practitioners, and convey directions to medical technicians, nursing assistants, and other staff every day. Eventually, the nurse can have their internal well of compassion come up empty, leaving them with CF. Simply stated, CF is the inability for nurses to nurture patients due to secondary traumatic stress disorder (Hinderer et al., 2014). This study explores what is compassion fatigue and ways to alleviate it and prevent it from taking away the love of nursing.

Compassion is a crucial aspect of nursing; it involves seeing the patients as more than just a medical problem. Patients look to nurses as a source of comfort to help them deal with their emotions and understand their medical problems. In Norway, a study was conducted to find the role of compassion in nursing and

Compassion represents an “acknowledgement of another’s suffering and is accompanied by the expression of a desire to ease or end that suffering.” (Van der Cingal, 2009, p. 124) This is a fundamental characteristic usually found in health care workers and nurses especially. In one twelve hour shift, a nurse’s job can change from taking vitals and administering medications to performing life saving measures

The purpose of this essay is to look at barriers of compassion and what nurses could do overcome these barriers. Three sub topics will be looked at over the course of this essay and a conclusion will be made to evaluate these essays findings and to provide some input into battling these barriers so that patients can receive high standards of patient care.

As an RN, three things that I hold dearly, which motivate my efforts, are compassion, integrity, and objectivity. These traits are the essential features that make the foundation for my views and way of practice. Compassion is the key element that has facilitated my ability to perceive and appreciate the uniqueness of individual patients and their needs. Additionally, this inherent quality has allowed me to be sensitive and understand the different behaviors of patients. Over the course of my medical profession, I have experienced that without compassion, one cannot have the enthusiasm or determination that is needed to help others, learn new things, or for that matter, make a difference for a better tomorrow. Synonymous with compassion