Mindfulness, Compassion, and Self-Compassion as Moderator of Environmental Support on Competency in Mental Health Nursing

Abstract

This research explored the established relationship between environmental support and competency for Mental Health Nurses, intending to investigate whether the tendency to display higher levels of mindfulness, compassion, and self-compassion might buffer the effect of a poor environment on competency. One questionnaire was comprised of five pre-developed questionnaires, which included all items examining environmental support, competency, mindfulness, compassion, and self-compassion. Mental Health Nurses (n = 103) were recruited from online forums and social media group pages in the UK. The result showed environmental support related positively to competency. Furthermore, the positive relationship of competency with environmental support was moderated when controlling for compassion but did not with mindfulness and self-compassion, although subscales showed some further interactions. When poor environmental support influences the competency of mental health professionals, compassion and mindfulness-based interactions may have the potential to uphold competency.

The relationship between emotional intelligence and self-compassion in nurses

“…Emotional intelligence and compassion are the characteristics that nurses should have to create effective relationships with people and society (Şenyuva, Kaya, Işik, & Bodur, 2014) [21] . Empirical studies have shown that self-compassion can help nurses because it may play a meaningful role in mental health (Rizal, Egan, & Mantzios, 2021) [20] . Self-compassion leads to compassion for others and can also have a significant impact on disease outcomes (Arch et al, 2014) [5] .…”