Understanding the Importance of Compassionate Nursing Care
Compassion can make your patients more comfortable as they prepare for a long recovery, undergo a frightening surgical procedure, or fight a life-threatening illness. According to Merriam-Webster, it is an emotional awareness of another person’s suffering combined with a desire to alleviate it.
Nurses who demonstrate compassion have a high degree of self-satisfaction with their careers. Understanding the Importance of Compassionate Nursing Care will help you provide your patients with compassionate care.
Patient-Nurse Relationships
Many nurses believe mutual respect and trust are necessary for a nurse-patient interaction. This is especially important when a patient must undergo an invasive procedure or experience a life-threatening emergency. Often, patients feel vulnerable during these times, and they need to know that the nurse has their best interest at heart.
Many studies have shown that patients consider compassionate nursing care extremely important, as it helps them feel safe and secure during stressful times. This is why it’s so crucial for nurses to know what constitutes compassionate care and how they can apply these concepts to their patient interactions.
According to a study published in Health Expectations, some nurses believe compassionate care results from creating a safe interpersonal communication environment and respecting a patient’s personality. In addition, some nurses feel that respecting a patient’s feelings and thoughts is also an aspect of compassion.
Patient-Nurse Communication
Nurses must be able to communicate with patients in an open, nonjudgmental manner. They should respond to questions and concerns in an empathetic way that quells anxieties but also delivers health care information that is relevant to a patient’s condition.
Nurses must listen attentively to their patients, which means hearing the words and observing body language and other nonverbal signals. It’s also a good idea for nurses to be aware of their emotions and not let them interfere with their work.
Nursing students should be taught about the importance of compassion and how it can affect each other, as well as the impact that a student’s well-being may have on their ability to demonstrate compassion in their work. In addition, they should be given the tools to help them cope with stress and anxiety in the workplace, like the Westminster Oaks. This includes access to counseling services. Providing this kind of support to nursing students helps them stay healthy and engaged with their patients.
Patient-Nurse Empathy
Often, it can feel like nurses are at the mercy of their patients. Nurses see illness and injury every day, and it can become mundane. However, to a patient experiencing it, it is terrifying, and the future looks uncertain. Understanding and sharing their emotions makes nurses valuable members of a care team.
A study found that when nurses engage in empathy, it increases their compassion satisfaction and decreases the risk of burnout and compassion fatigue. The fewer negative feelings like guilt and depression nurses experience, the more empathic they are.
It is essential to put yourself in your patient’s shoes and recognize that they have other issues going on in their lives beyond their medical issue. For example, it is essential to address those issues if they are stressed about financial vulnerability or their family situation. Their physical condition’s associated tension and worry will be lessened.
Patient-Nurse Touch
As nurses, we touch our patients every day when providing physical care. However, compassion is much more than a simple touch – it’s having great sympathy and sorrow for someone who has been hurt (being sympathetic).
Compassionate nursing care benefits both the patient and the nurse. Studies have found that nurses focusing on human care experience more job satisfaction. Moreover, students taught about the importance of compassionate nursing care are likelier to love their career and remain committed to it long-term.
As a nurse, you can show compassion by touching your patients gently or holding their hands while discussing their condition. This simple touch can help you build trust and form a connection with them. In addition, it allows them to feel valued and respected – a crucial part of their emotional state. This, in turn, improves their health outcomes and makes them more satisfied with your medical care.
