Empathy-Related Courses In Nursing And Medical Students Curriculum

Compassion is one of the fundamental characteristics implemented into patient care by health care providers. Compassion signifies “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering” (Compassion, n.d.). Nurses and other health care providers provide selfless service, tireless dedication, compassion, and often neglect their personal needs, which

When asked what trait a physician bears in the 21st century, most would agree with compassion. Pierre Elias author of the narrative essay, “Insensible Losses: When The Medical Community Forgets The Family”, argues that physicians may be compassionate when it comes to their patients, but “lack a systematic approach to communicating with families when a patient’s health deteriorates unexpectedly, requiring a change in care providers” (Elias 707). Pierre Elias is a medical student from Duke University. He is nearing the end of his clinical rotations when he is forced by his inner moral conscience to deliver difficult news to a patient’s family whom no other physician makes time for.

The current class has been very informative on nursing theories and it is the dream of every aspiring nursing student and registered nurses to provide compassionate care to the patients. Nurses have a role not only to offer physical care but to offer mental, spiritual and emotional support to patients as well. Patients with complex and frequently diverse needs must be given the full attention of the nurse based on their needs. Consistent research indicated the significant benefits which ensue when nurses offer compassionate care; however this is not always the case, especially among nurses which are involved in direct care of terminally ill patients and such nurses end up suffering from compassion fatigue, this is what Joinson (1992) described

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

A nursing career and caring for the sick intertwine inseparably. It requires a tremendous amount of compassion and empathy to care for those who are in need. My philosophy of care is to treat others with dignity, respect and compassion regardless of their race, ethnicity or cultural background. It’s about treating people the way you want to be treated and to understand that sometimes the best medicine of all is kindness. In addition, not only is it important to provide effective and competent care to all patients, it’s extremely crucial to provide care that is genuine and compassionate. All health care consumers should be receiving care that reflects their values and beliefs.

The practice of nursing is synonymous with the concepts of empathy, compassion, nurturing, and caring. In the last two decades, a global nursing shortage has developed, leading to a phenomenon in nursing never seen before; the delivery of nursing care without nurturing. Increased workloads, higher patient acuity, deficient resources, and inadequate support systems, have all contributed to the decreased job satisfaction that has left nurses unable to display the compassion that was once a unique quality of nurses (Hooper, Craig, Janvrin, Wetsel, &

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.

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

Understanding and listening to the patient is the best way to show empathy and compassion. In addition, the trust and rapport are building between patient and nurse when allowing the patient to verbalize the concern. Moreover, empathy and understanding was what the patient

Compassionate healthcare organizations reliably enable the attributes, abilities, behaviors and skills of compassionate individuals to flourish. The value and importance of compassion and compassionate care are embedded in the cultures of such organizations, modeled by their clinical and administrative leaders, and expressed in their policies, processes and governance. The overarching commitment is that individuals and the organizations, institutions and systems in which they work, must value compassionate care sufficiently to use it as a lens to sharpen their focus on providing high quality and humanistic care. The aim of the commitments that follow is to ensure that all clinicians and other care providers are able to

Observing a GP during patient consultations, seeing his genuine concern and caring interest in each case, demonstrated fully the importance of compassion and effective communication. In a GP home visit, I met an elderly lady with Alzheimer's, who displayed no wish to cooperate, something I initially found difficult to comprehend. However, on reflection I understood the patient's right to refuse treatment, perhaps indicating this person's wish to retain some control in their life. The variety of my work experience has meant that I have been in the company of professionals who exhibited traits I believe I have developed through mentoring and teaching. These traits such as courtesy and empathy would ensure that I adopt a composed manner in sensitive or stressful situations, enabling me to communicate my understanding of what they are experiencing both physically and

Compassion can be displayed in many ways, from a gentle touch of reassurance to “listening deeply” to what is being said (Stein, 1994, quoted by Gibson, Swartz & Sandenbergh, 2014:16). In this case , compassion would be clearly evident by taking time to understand and listen to each patient’s story and their feelings about what happened, illustrating my desire to understand them. (Chochinov,

Empathy provides the nurse with the perspective that is necessary to consider the most appropriate actions and interventions significant to a patient’s individual experience (Boggs. 2011, p.107). Failure of the nurse to empathize with a patient can result in a strained therapeutic relationship as a result of providing inadequate emotional support and client education (Boggs. 2011, p.107). In providing empathetic care it is important to mentally picture the client’s situation and perform self-checks, thereby assessing for personal bias and stereotypes (Arnold. 2011 p. 84). Additionally, there are multiple barriers to providing empathetic care, which include lack of time, lack of trust, lack of privacy, and lack of support, amongst others (Boggs. 2011, p.115).

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

A good bedside manner consists, in part, of a doctor having the ability to appropriately empathize with their patients; however, there must also be a balance between physician objectivity and the abilityt to empathize with patients . Empathy can be defined as the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes and trying to imagine what they are going through from their perspective . Empathy is important because ‘How well physicians can put themselves in their patients’ shoes is directly linked with patient satisfaction”(Faherty 1). Doctors are often focused purely on the medical needs of their patients. If a doctor cannot establish a reasonably empathic relationship with the patient from the start, the patient will ultimately pay the