Compassion in care: A qualitative study of older people with a chronic disease and nurses

Abstract

This article describes compassion as perceived within the relationship between nurses and older persons with a chronic disease. The aim of the study is to understand the benefit of compassion for nursing practice within the context of long-term care. The design of the study involves a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with nurses and patients in three different care-settings. Results show the nature of compassion in seven dimensions: attentiveness, listening, confronting, involvement, helping, presence and understanding. Analysis of the data also shows in what way opinions of participants relate to issues raised in a previous literature study, for example the difference between pity and compassion. The conclusion states that compassion is a valuable process which motivates patients as well as nurses to cooperate in achieving relevant outcomes of care. The discussion involves some methodological issues. For one thing, further confirmation of the dimensions found is recommended.

The Concepts of “Patient Suffering” and “Favorable Interaction” in Nurse-Patient Conflicts Based on Gaps in Perception

“…Van der Cignel [13] considered compassion as another important concept in the nurse-patient relationship, believing that compassion is an answer to suffering and lies at the heart of care; indeed, it is equivalent to good quality care in health care today. The importance of compassion in the nurse-patient relationship is not a new phenomenon; it has played a part in nursing spanning from Nightingale to dozens of modern theories [14]. Kindness, concern, sensitivity, caring, compassion, and empathy are known as the most valued activities of nurses [15].…”

Compassion in healthcare: a concept analysis

“…Patients want the health professionals to understand and appreciate the impact their current issue (diagnosis, bereavement, treatment etc.) is having on the physical, emotional and social rudiments of their life [30,31,33,51,52].…”

“…Compassionate behaviours included: eye contact [28], engaged body language [29], listening with full attention [30][31][32] and facial expressions which matched the subject of conversation [33]. All of these were deemed to display commitment and devotion by the health professional to what was being said, the significance of the topic and therefore demonstrated they were vested in them [34,35].…”

Compassion and Nursing: Can Compassion be Measured?: Review

“…Merhamet duygusunun hemşirelere cesaret vererek, hastalara daha kaliteli bakım sunmak için motive edebileceğini belirtmektedir. 21 …”