Simone Roach

CHAPTER 1

Introduction: Compassion in nursing – the key to caring

Overview of the chapter

Key theme one – compassion

■ Case study ■ Discussion ■ What does compassion mean to patients and clients? ■ Case study ■ Discussion ■ Thoughts for your practice ■ How do nurses perceive compassion in their practice? ■ Case study ■ Discussion ■ Thoughts for your practice

Key theme two – caring ■ Case study ■ Discussion ■ Do we understand the importance of caring in nursing practice? ■ Case study ■ Discussion ■ Thoughts for your practice ■ How do we build caring relationships with individuals? ■ Case study ■ Discussion ■ Thoughts for your practice ■ Summary – links to compassion and caring ■ References

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COMPASSION AND CARING IN NURSING

OVERVIEW OF THE CHAPTER

Compassion is the essence of caring, and therefore the essence of nursing, in our opinion, and yet it is not always the central focus of nursing practice. This book has been written in an attempt to reintroduce the concept of compassion and caring into how we, as nurses, think about our practice and our patients and clients. We not only need to challenge ourselves to show more compassion towards those in our care, but also we need to challenge our colleagues and stimulate discussion with our students to ensure that compassion remains central in our nursing care. There are many different definitions of compassion, but we strongly believe that it is demonstrated most clearly by acting in a way that you would like others to act towards you. We need to reach out to others with kindness through what we say and by our physical actions. We believe that compassion is a profound feeling, which is brought about by witnessing the pain or distress of others. However, nurses can feel vulnerable by witnessing others’ distress and, therefore, may want to minimise this vulnerability by distancing themselves from the patient or client in distress. After all, if we can believe that the patient’s experience is...