Empathy vs Compassion
Everyone has a different definition for empathy and compassion. The dictionary describes empathy as “the psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts or attitudes of another” (Empathy, 2019). This definition summarizes empathy well, however, I believe empathy is best portrayed through actions. Compassion is said to be, “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering”(Compassion, 2019). Compassion in my eyes is the feeling of misery and/or sympathy towards what an individual is experiencing. Jean Watson describes ten different factors to achieve love/heart-centered care into practice (Cara, 2003). The four factors that stood out to me that demonstrate empathy and compassion where the first, second, fifth and eighth factors.
The first factor is, “practicing loving-kindness and equanimity within context of caring consciousness” (Cara, 2003). Personally, I never thought of having to practice kindness, I assumed it was something an individual was born with. It is apparent that everyone has the capacity to be kind however, you must practice demonstrating it. Practicing acts of kindness can help the nurse and the client connect, creating a bond that can lead to empathy.
The second factor is, “being authentically present and enabling and sustaining the deep belief system and subjective life world of self and one-being cared for” (Cara, 2003). This factor details why you need to know yourself before you put a patient needs in your own hands. In addition, it is important to listen to your patient as well as be there for the client no matter the circumstance. This is a demonstration of compassion because acts of responsiveness and holding steady presence with a client could save a life.
The fifth factor states, “being present to, and supportive of the expression of positive and negative feelings” (Cara,2003). As a nurse you will have been there through good times; like having a healthy baby; or negative times; when a patient gets a difficult diagnosis. No matter the circumstance, good or bad nurses will demonstrate compassion by being present for their client.
In my opinion the eighth factor was the most important one. Stating, “creating healing environment at all levels, whereby wholeness, beauty, comfort, dignity and peace are potentiated” (Cara, 2003). This factor exemplifies both empathy and compassion, it is vital to have a connection with your patient that is wholesome, beautiful, comfortable and peaceful. Linda Aiken explains in, “Effects of Hospital Care Environment on Patient Mortality and Nurse Outcomes” how a positive experience can lower the risks of death and failure in a patient’s outcome. Empathy and compassion are both fundamental factors in leading to a positive experience and a better outcome in any health profession.
Event
Many nurses in today’s society want to get in and out of patients room as fast as possible. The quicker the conversation the less work that has to be done. Nurses have many tasks that they have to accomplish in one shift, some of which include; assessing, planning, implementing the plan, giving medication, etc. For example, for each medication that is order you have to follow it up with three individual checks. The three checks occur once when you check the order, then when you pull the medication out of the drawer and finally one more, before you give it to the patient (Taylor, 2019). Many of these tasks challenge the nurse and patient relationship. This is an experience that has challenged me firsthand. I was given a patient at New England Rehab where my job involved hours of communication with the client. This particular client was receiving a difficult diagnosis of a spinal injury that would result in being restricted by a back brace. Another challenge this patient was facing was the overwhelming of multiple different health professions coming in and out of the room. While many other nurses and certified nursing assistants were busy performing other important tasks, I was left with the opportunity to sit and talk with my client one on one. During our long talk we discussed how she was feeling overwhelmed being in rehab and her diagnosis. We discussed how life in a back brace would be challenging and different from what she had known. We came up with adaptations and created a plan to help ease these challenged when she was home. Throughout this portion of the conversation I did not say much, the client just wanted a friendly ear to listen to her. In order to get her mind off the difficult subject she asked me questions about school and how it was going. After talking about my school life for a while she changed the topic to food, and how she was unhappy with the products in the rehab facility. The patient informed me on how to make spaghetti squash and some of her other favorite recipes. After the conversation went on for a while she had to use the bathroom. I helped her out of her wheelchair and to the bathroom, the next task of the day was dinner. Dinner was unsatisfactory for her but a few minutes later her daughter came in with spaghetti squash and my shift came to an end. These little events of kindness changed the mood of the patient immensely, which would increase her health in the long run This act of lending a friendly ear demonstrates empathy and compassion, by focusing all attention on one client.
Self Reflection
My role for this event was to lend a friendly ear for a patient in distress. Even though she was not in a life threatening event, she was having a difficult time. Personal experience has taught me that if you are in emotional distress, your physical well-being will take longer to improve. Sarah Stweart-Brown, explains in her article that emotional wellbeing is directly linked to physical disease (Stweart-Brown, 1998). One lesson I learned from this experience is that the little things in life are sometimes the ones that matter the most, even in patient healing. Even though work will get hectic at times, it goes a long way to sit and talk to clients. I will incorporate this caring behavior in my everyday clinical care, because lending an ear can teach you a lot. It can teach you what the patient is going through physically and mentally. It can teach you about the patients past experience which will help make a good nurse to patient connection. Making a good nurse to patient connection is one of the most important things to be a successful nurse.
References
Aiken, L. H., Clarke, S. P., Sloane, D. M., Lake, E. T., & Cheney, T. (2008). Effects of hospital
care environment on patient mortality and nurse outcomes. The Journal of nursing
administration, 38(5), 223–229. doi:10.1097/01.NNA.0000312773.42352.d7
Cara, C. (2003). A Pragmatic View of Jean Watson’s Caring Theory, www.humancaring.org
(under “continuing education”)
Compassion. (2019). Retrieved December 2, 2019, from
Empathy. (2019). Retrieved December 2, 2019, from
Stewart-Brown Sarah. Emotional wellbeing and its relation to health Physical disease may well
result from emotional distress BMJ 1998; 317 :1608
Taylor, C., Lynn, P., Bartlett, J. L., & Taylor, C. (2019). Taylor: Fundamentals of nursing: the art
and science of person-centered care, Ninth edition (Ninth). Retrieved from
Watson, J. (2008). Nursing: The Philosophy and Science of Caring (rev. ed.), Boulder: University
Press of Colorad
