Defining compassionate nursing care

Abstract

Background: Compassion has long been advocated as a fundamental element in nursing practice and education. However, defining and translating compassion into caring practice by nursing students who are new to the clinical practice environment as part of their educational journey remain unclear. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore how Chinese baccalaureate nursing students define and characterize compassionate care as they participate in their clinical practice. Methods: A descriptive qualitative study design was used involving a semi-structured in-depth interview method and qualitative content analysis. Twenty senior year baccalaureate nursing students were interviewed during their clinical practicum experience at four teaching hospitals. Ethical considerations: Permission to conduct the study was received from the Institutional Review Boards and the participating hospitals. Results: Baccalaureate nursing students defined and characterized compassionate care as a union of “empathy” related to a nurse’s desire to “alleviate patients’ suffering,” “address individualized care needs,” “use therapeutic communication,” and “promote mutual benefits with patients.” Students recognized that the “practice environment” was characterized by nurse leaders’ interpersonal relations, role modeling by nurses and workloads which influenced the practice of compassionate care by nursing personnel. Conclusion: Compassionate care is crucial for patients, nurses, and students in their professional development as well as the development of the nursing profession. In order to provide compassionate care, a positive practice environment promoted by hospital administrators is needed. This also includes having an adequate workforce of nurses who can role model compassionate care to students in their preceptor role while meeting the needs of their patients.

Analytics and Lean Health Care to Address Nurse Care Management Challenges for Inpatients in Emerging Economies

“…Further, a mathematical model is proposed to distribute the workload between the personnel. The aim is to guarantee more contact between nursing professionals and patients, and, ultimately, compassionate, committed care with a humane tone focused on particular needs (Su et al, 2020). In this research, we corroborate that the workload of nursing depends on the combination of the individual health condition of patients, particularly when it comes to a functional state, individual needs of nursing care, and the gravity of the symptoms (Morris et al, 2007).…”

Self‐compassion influences the caring behaviour and compassion competence among saudi nursing students: A multi‐university study

“…Compassionate care entails that nurses enter into the patients’ experience and ensure that patients maintain their independence and dignity (Lee & Seomun, 2016a ). For nursing students, a compassionate care involves empathy, alleviation of the suffering of the patients, attending to individualized nursing needs, utilizing therapeutic communication and stimulating benefits of the patient and the nurse (Su et al., 2020 ). Previous research reported that being compassionate enhances patient quality care and the nurse's well‐being (Pattison & Samuriwo, 2016 ).…”

“…Compassion is a virtue and a critical component of nursing care because it serves as the human and moral aspect of care (Su et al., 2020 ). Compassionate care is the “union of empathy related to and interacting with a nurse's desire to alleviate patients’ suffering, addressing individualized care needs, using therapeutic communication and promoting mutual benefits with their patients” (Su et al., 2020 , p. 491). Hence, future nurses should develop a caring behaviour and compassion in dealing with patients.…”

Understanding the concept of compassion from the perspectives of nurses

“…17 In spite of what has been described so far, in the literature, sometimes, compassion appears as a quality close to empathy, although they are not actually equivalent. 18 Empathy may be defined as the ability to understand and participate in someone else's emotional reality and feelings. 19 However, empathy is the indirect experience of someone else's emotions, but it does not necessarily entail a response to their suffering, and it does not involve the will to act.…”

“…23 This whole philosophical and religious journey of the concept of compassion is what leads us to the currently accepted definition of compassion in the field of health sciences. 7,10,18 Compassion is understood as openness and sensitivity to suffering, along with the desire and motivation to relieve it. 13,24 Currently, certain sciences such as bioethics, nursing, medical research, neuroscience, social psychology, contemplative sciences, and medical anthropology, among others, have taken an interest in this concept.…”