Recognizing Care and Compassion in Nursing, Essay Example

Introduction

Professional nursing requires expert knowledge and understanding of a variety of health concerns that impact the live of patients and affect their wellbeing. To accommodate patients, nurses must also express emotion and compassion to support their needs and to raise awareness of the emotional context of health and healing. Patients often recognize when nurses do not show compassion for their situations and may experience setbacks in the process. Therefore, from a conceptual point of view, nurses must be able to perform their roles effectively and to support patient care quality through their actions towards patients. This process encompasses a moral component that requires nurses to provide a high standard of care and treatment to patients at all times (Beckett, 2013). However, in some respects, this is a learned concept that requires further investigation and evaluation in order to ensure that patient care is not compromised and that they respond favorably to direct care and compassion in the healthcare environment. Nurses who demonstrate compassion must be effective communicators and encourage a positive and meaningful environment to promote patient healing and recovery.

Analysis

Nurses may not always demonstrate compassion in the work environment because it is somewhat ambiguous in nature, thereby creating a challenging environment in which patients are likely to experience the lack of emotion and connection to their needs (Beckett, 2013). Caring should be inherent with all nurses; however, this concept often requires learning and an understanding of patient care needs that will satisfy patient outcomes and stimulate healing (Beckett, 2013). Some nurses have not likely experienced a caring and nurturing home or family environment, thereby contributing to the disconnect to patients that is often observed, and as a result, requires some degree of nurturing and support to ensure that patients receive the best possible care and treatment in a timely manner (Beckett, 2013).

Nurses may disconnect from their responsibility to be compassionate with patients because they may not recognize that it is absent and that their own actions do not coincide with patient needs (Castledine, 2005). Therefore, it is necessary to develop a framework that will enable nurses to recognize how to exercise compassion and to be present for their patients at all times (Castledine, 2005). Furthermore, nurses also possess limitations of their own, and these must also be addressed in the context of their ability to be compassionate towards their patients (Castledine, 2005). First and foremost, patients who experience compassion from their nurses are likely to be receptive to this emotional context and will be successful in achieving the desired results in terms of their recovery (Castledine, 2005). Also, it is necessary to support an environment that embraces change and also supports progress for patients who experience compassion from their nurses with each interaction (Castledine, 2005).

From a conceptual point of view, nurses should recognize how patients from different age groups with different areas of need require compassion to promote recovery, and this is an important step towards the discovery of new challenges that will impact quality of care and also support the growth of practice settings to achieve the desired outcomes (Van der Cingel, 2011). Nurses must demonstrate a humane and moral approach to their practice that depends on offering a compassionate perspective and level of support to meet their needs (Van der Cingel, 2011).  The process of advancing healthcare practice through compassion is essential for nurses because it supports their own growth and maturity in the profession and provides patients with a caring and nurturing environment (Van der Cingel, 2011). Compassion is not a learned concept but it requires significant attention and focus by all nurses in order to achieve greater health and wellbeing for all patients (Van der Cingel, 2011).

Finally, nurses with limited levels of experience may find it difficult to exercise compassion and to determine how much compassion is required to support their patients (Horsburgh & Ross, 2013). In this capacity, nurses may not be up to the task of providing optimal compassion for their patients, and therefore, this process is likely to improve with experience (Horsburgh & Ross, 2013). At the same time, nurses with lower experience levels may find themselves conflicted regarding their roles and responsibilities, which requires an increased understanding of these roles to ensure that patient needs are met as required (Horsburgh & Ross, 2013). As a result, nurses must be exposed to compassionate care in the work environment so that they are able to effectively adapt to this process in their own experiences to improve patient recovery and satisfaction (Horsburgh & Ross, 2013).

Conclusion

Compassion is a key nursing concept that requires significant understanding and focus across all practice settings. Nurses must be able to provide a compassionate care and treatment environment that supports change and stimulates recovery and wellbeing. Although some nurses exercise compassion at higher levels than others, the concept is critical to the practice setting and requires much nurturing and ongoing support in order to facilitate the desired results. Compassion in nursing is essential to facilitate high quality patient care and treatment for all patients and requires an ongoing effort from nurses to be effective contributors to the practice setting in order to achieve effective results. Patients must be provided with an environment in which nurses show compassion towards their needs and encourage them to follow the steps that are necessary to encourage recovery.

References

Beckett, K. (2013). Professional wellbeing and caring: exploring a complex relationship. British Journal Of Nursing, 22(19), 1118-1124.

Castledine, G. (2005). Castledine column. Recognizing care and compassion in nursing. British Journal Of Nursing, 14(18), 1001.

Horsburgh, D., & Ross, J. (2013). Care and compassion: the experiences of newly qualified staff nurses. Journal of clinical nursing, 22(7-8), 1124-1132.

Van der Cingel, C. J. M. (2011). Compassion in care: A qualitative study of older people with a chronic disease and nurses. Nursing ethics, 0969733011403556.