This study has its roots in a clinical application project, focusing on the development of a teaching-learning model enabling participants to understand compassion. During that project four clinical nursing teachers met for a total of 12 hours of experiential and reflective work. This study aimed at exploring participants' understanding of self-compassion as a source to compassionate care. It was carried out as a phenomenological and hermeneutic interpretation of participants' written and oral reflections on the topic. Data were interpreted in the light of Watson's Theory of Human Caring. Five themes were identified: Being there, with self and others; respect for human vulnerability; being nonjudgmental; giving voice to things needed to be said and heard; and being able to accept the gift of compassion from others. A main metaphorical theme, 'the Butterfly effect of Caring', was identified, addressing interdependency and the ethics of the face and hand when caring for Other - the ethical stance where the Other's vulnerable face elicits a call for compassionate actions. The findings reveal that the development of a compassionate self and the ability to be sensitive, nonjudgmental and respectful towards oneself contributes to a compassionate approach towards others. It is concluded that compassionate care is not only something the caregiver does, nor is compassion reduced to a way of being with another person or a feeling. Rather, it is a way of becoming and belonging together with another person where both are mutually engaged and where the caregiver compassionately is able to acknowledge both self and Other's vulnerability and dignity.

Little available research exists to address the range of ethical issues encountered by occupational therapists (OTs) in their daily clinical work. The few articles in the literature have tended to be case-based or anecdotal or have focused on professional issues rather than clinical issues. To characterize the array of clinical ethical issues in occupational therapy, we asked OTs in a free-standing academic rehabilitation hospital to describe in some detail up to three scenarios or situations from their clinical practice that raised morally troubling questions. A coding system was developed to preserve the richness of the detail but to allow for some categorization of the topics. A second section of the survey asked the therapists to rate whether various traditional ethics topics were of high, medium, or low interest to them. A third section asked that they identify the formats that would be most appealing to them for future educational interventions. Of the 56 therapists surveyed, 38 (or 68%) responded. The three self-generated topics mentioned most frequently by the therapists were (in decreasing order of frequency): reimbursement pressures, conflicts around goal setting, and patient/family refusal of team recommendations. The respondents were particularly interested in knowing more about patient-centered ethics topics, such as conflict resolution between teams and patients and the patient's role in decision making. Furthermore, they indicated a strong preference for interdisciplinary and interactive educational formats.

Respect for patient autonomy and the need to have a comprehensive discussion of the risks and benefits of a medical intervention are two important issues involved in the process of obtaining informed consent. In dealing with individuals with aphasia, there may be particular challenges in balancing these two ethical imperatives. Although decision-making capacity may be preserved with aphasia, the patients' ability to fully participate in a dialogue regarding a proposed medical intervention is frequently impaired. We propose a process of enhancing informed consent for persons with aphasia while continuing to respect and enhance patient autonomy and the exercise of decision making for these patients. The use of a patient-selected "helper" during the informed consent process can improve the quality of the informed consent, while reserving final decision-making authority for the patient.

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Ethical dilemmas are particularly complex when a patient has a communication disorder. Questionable decision-making capacity can affect an individual's ability to participate in the informed consent process. When other cognitive impairments as well as language deficits are present, the risk of losing one's right to autonomy is greatly increased. Alternatively, the protection afforded those who are clearly incompetent may be limited if a person appears to have decision-making capacity but is unable to adequately process information. These challenges are illustrated in this article by use of clinical case descriptions. They also serve to demonstrate ways in which speech-language pathologists can provide the expertise needed to assist patients and medical teams in addressing these particular issues and ensuring patient autonomy.