Background Compassion is considered the cornerstone of nursing practice. However, the recent failures in delivering high‐quality compassionate nursing care in the UK's National Health Service have brought the topic of compassion to the attention of the public, service providers, policy makers and academics. Aim The aim of this study was to explore the nurses’ views and experiences of a number of compassion‐related issues in nursing and describe similarities and differences at an international level as well as from the different nursing roles of the participating nurses. Methods An exploratory, cross‐sectional descriptive study, using the International Online Compassion Questionnaire. A total of 1323 nurses from 15 countries completed the questionnaire. Results The majority of participants (59.5%) defined compassion as “Deep awareness of the suffering of others and wish to alleviate it” but definitions of compassion varied by country. Of participants, 69.6% thought compassion was very important in nursing and more than half (59.6%) of them argued that compassion could be taught. However, only 26.8% reported that the correct amount and level of teaching is provided. The majority of the participants (82.6%) stated that their patients prefer knowledgeable nurses with good interpersonal skills. Only 4.3% noted that they are receiving compassion from their managers. A significant relationship was found between nurses’ experiences of compassion and their views about teaching of compassion. Conclusion Our study is unique in identifying the views and experiences of nurses from 15 different countries worldwide. The findings reveal that compassion is neither addressed adequately in nursing education nor supported in the practice environment by managers. Limitations Self‐report bias was inherent to our survey study design. Furthermore, the individual cultural differences and similarities in the findings are difficult to extrapolate owing to the fact that our analysis was at country level, as well as at the level of the participating nurses. Implications for nursing policy Understanding the influence of culture on nurses’ views about compassion is critical in the current multicultural healthcare environment and merits further research. This will potentially drive changes in nursing education (ensuring that compassion is taught to nurses) and in the way healthcare leaders and managers foster a compassionate culture within their organizations (e.g. by leading by example and compassionate to their staff).

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Objective: to understand the experience of nurses in care delivery to culturally diverse families. Method: qualitative meta-synthesis. Exhaustive search in seven databases, three repositories and a manual search in references without time limit, in English, Spanish and Portuguese, resulting in 1609 potentially relevant studies. These were assessed based on the title, summary and full text, determining the final inclusion of 14 studies. Two independent reviewers used the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) to assess the quality. The interpretative synthesis implied permanent contrast and consensus among the authors, revealing four categories and one meta-theme. Results: "taking care of a culturally diverse family, the experience of crossing a tightrope". Conclusion: the experience of nurses in care delivery to culturally diverse families is demanding and challenging because it imprints a constant tension among barriers, cultural manifestations and the ethical responsibility of care, incipiently revealing elements of cultural competency. The omission of information in the participants' reports in the studies represents a limitation. The findings offer a baseline for professionals and organizations to focus their intervention efforts on the continuing barriers in care delivery to culturally diverse families and strengthens the need for cultural competency training for nurses.

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<p>Objetivo: Establecer la asociación de la carga del cuidador familiar con el tiempo de cuidado y el grado de funcionalidad de la persona anciana campesina. Materiales y método: Estudio cuantitativo de tipo transversal con alcance correlacional, con una muestra de 50 cuidadores familiares. Fueron aplicados: una encuesta sociodemográfica; escala de Zarit, que mide la carga del cuidador y el índice de Barthel, que mide el grado de dependencia funcional. Resultados: Los cuidadores familiare generalmente son mujeres (76 %); mayores de 60 años (50 %), casados (40 %) y solteros (30 %); con bajo nivel socioeconómico (94 %) y educativo (66 %). No se encontró una asociación significativa entre carga del cuidador y el grado de funcionalidad (p = 0,249), tampoco entre la carga del cuidador y el tiempo como cuidador (p = 0,476). Conclusiones: Alta proporción de mujeres campesinas son cuidadoras familiares. El estudio reporta que el tiempo de cuidado y el grado de funcionalidad del anciano no son predictores de carga de cuidado en el cuidador familiar campesino. Se requieren más investigaciones e indagar si hay aspectos culturales que influyen en la experiencia y construcción de significados del cuidado. Se sugiere la necesidad de programas educativos dirigidos a cuidadoras campesinas mediante procesos de autorreconocimiento y autodeterminación de acuerdo con su cultura y capacidades.</p>