Introduction
The aim of this paper will be to demonstrate a further understanding following the meaning of empathy throughout nursing practice.
Patient situation
With my clinical placement being in the cardiology unit at Hamilton General I have been exposed to a variety of acute circumstances that required continuous critical thinking skills. Thus, with periods of such high demand and acute care situations it becomes undoubtedly difficult at times to acknowledge the patient as a whole and understand their story. Dealing with an acute patient population and continuous turn over rate it was visible to me that providing therapeutic relationship was not a priority on this unit, displaying empathy was easily missed and consequently, affecting
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I had been assigned to a 96 year old patient with a diagnosis of failure to cope. Prior to entering the patient’s room I had made a mental assessment through my personal research and verbal report that he was known to be a non-compliant agitated patient. Although the patient was already labeled as a difficult patient I did not allow this to cloud my own personal judgment when meeting with the patient. While providing morning care I began to engage with the patient through conversation and shortly learned that the patient was still grieving the loss of his wife from 9 years ago, they had been married for 65 years. By showing empathy and listening to the patient explain his story I was able to develop a therapeutic relationship with the patient where trust was built and nursing care was provided efficiently. I wanted to further explore the impact empathy has on nursing care in such setting as acute care, and how vital this is to the human …show more content…
American psychologist Carl Rogers first introduced the meaning behind empathy and its importance in the health care profession. He defined empathy as “to perceive the internal frame of reference of another with accuracy and with the emotional components and meanings which pertain thereto as if one were the person, but without ever losing the “as if” condition” (reference). Empathy encompasses the person as a whole, and having the ability to engross one self into the individual 's perspective while maintaining your own emotions in check (reference). Many theorists have attempted to analyze this concept from many different angles such as, Hoffman (1981) argued that the body responded in a natural way and as a largely involuntary vicarious response to affective cues from another person. For example, when viewing facial distress during an encounter the body may respond with similar feedback producing matching emotional occurrence (Decety & Jackson, 2015?). This could be interpreted as a role of autonomic function that is vital to “cognitive functions and emotion regulation” (Decety & Jackson, 2015) thus, not even being aware that empathy is being displayed. While others such as Batson et al (1997) referred to cognitive resources being utilized in role taking
The need for advocacy is most often first noticed by the nurse through empathy. When nurses are able to empathize with their patients it begins the process of advocacy. When the nurse empathizes with their patient an altruistic attitude towards the patient grows, this improves caring and caring is essentially an innate form of professional ethics. The want to advocate by the nurse is greatly enhanced when the nurse truly cares about the patient; which is best developed through empathy. The want to advocate for the patient by the nurse is the biggest factor in positive advocacy outcomes (Reed, F., et. all, 2016). Professional caring combines caring and empathy with nursing knowledge and competency; together these factors enable the nurse to serve as a capable moral agent for their patient within the healthcare system. It is not possible to advocate for a patient properly without being first able to empathize and create a therapeutic nurse-client
Burton defines empathy as the ability to not only recognize but also to share another person’s or a fictional character’s or a sentient beings’ emotions. It involves seeing a person’s situation from his or her own perspective and then sharing his or her emotions and distress (1). Chismar posits that to empathize is basically to respond to another person’ perceived state of emotion by experiencing similar feelings. Empathy, therefore, implies sharing another person’s feeling without necessary showing any affection or desire to help. For one to empathize, he or she must at least care for, be interested in or concerned about
“You must have empathy, not sympathy for the patients you care for. Understand their feels and show
Kristina M. Kays provides a robust description of Katharina Manassis’ text, “Developing Empathy: A Biopsychosocial Approach to Understanding Compassion for Therapists and Parents,” positing current society and human interactions as lacking in empathy, as noted in
An Epidemic of Empathy in Healthcare: How to Deliver Compassionate Connected Patient Care that Creates a Competitive Advantage was the book I chose to read for this assignment. I chose this book because in reading the reviews of the book and the summary, I found it to be a topic of current discussion among my associates and colleagues. The title of this book stood out to me and, after further inquiry, I realized it gave insight to one of the major problems in the delivery of healthcare today.
The nurse should have a higher than average supply of empathy especially since this patient can sometimes become confused, anxious and depressed. By being empathetic the nurse connects with the patient and acquires an understanding of what the patient is going through. Empathy helps the nurse to acknowledge patient’s holistic state and to listen attentively so that in the process of rehabilitation , she can empower them to be proactive and self managers of their care (Ficara , May 2011) . The patient’s anxiety depression and
As a doctor it is important to alleviate patient’s suffering with not just medicine but also with care. When a physician shows empathy and understanding about the patient’s condition, the patient is more willing to trust the physician. In addition, the patient will feel more comfortable about sharing their symptoms and concerns. This allows the doctor to build healthy physician-patient relationship based on communication and trust. As a medical student I will use care and compassion to understand my patients as respectful individuals rather than vessels of illnesses. I will try to provide both sympathy and empathy when speaking to patients about treatment plans and explaining their questions and concerns in a manner which is comprehensible but no
Empathy is crucial for meaningful relationships with patients1. Healthcare providers know that “bearing with the suffering of others” is an essential part of patient care2,3. Ironically, while empathic ability allows healthcare providers to notice the pain of their patients, this ability is also linked to the susceptibility to distress or compassion fatigue6,7. Compassion fatigue has been defined as ‘‘the formal caregiver’s reduced capacity or interest in being empathic and is ‘the natural consequent behaviors and emotions resulting from knowing about a traumatizing event experienced or suffered by a person’’7. Compassion fatigue can be seen as a form of burnout, as a secondary traumatic stress, associated with the ‘‘cost of caring’’2.
Many times there are barriers that stand in the way of empathic interactions with customers. For example, the average community pharmacy can be quite hectic at times. With a constant influx of customers, it becomes difficult to give every patient the attention and care that he or she deserves. This leads to rushed consultations and poor feedback from the pharmacist. All of the elements of the CARE scale suffer because of a rushed pharmacist. More specifically, the severity of a patient’s disease could be a barrier to demonstrating the CARE element of positivity. A pharmacist might have a difficult time remaining positive without sounding overly optimistic. Unfortunately, a pharmacist’s personal opinion about what is best for the patient could also have a negative effect on empathy. By refusing to see the patient’s point of view from another perspective, the “letting you tell your story” element of the CARE scale likely
I think it is important that I clarify my own values to ensure that my care is client-centered. Self- reflection during care is also fundamental as it makes me aware of my actions and whether they are establishing a therapeutic relationship or doing the opposite.. Finally, I need to learn to be more empathetic towards my patient’s situations by being interactive, gaining insight and avoid being focused on the task and more on being with the situation. Some things that I will preserve are attentively listening, demonstrating attending behaviours and maintaining my patient’s dignity by ensuring privacy and
Compassion and empathy are important influences in our everyday life. It is especially true in a health care profession. A smile or a kindness gesture can go a long way and has a great impact on other people.
Kneafsey et al. (2016) conducted a qualitative study on forty-five participants, including academic staff, healthcare students, physicians, and patients. The study found all participants expect healthcare staff to be consistently compassionate. They each used the character and scope of the healthcare professional’s communication skill as a representation for identifying compassion, such as good listening skills and proper tone of voice (Kneafsey et al., 2016). Patients appreciated the healthcare staff when time and energy were invested in building positive interpersonal connections with them and account those qualities as personal engagement (Kneafsey et al.,
Empathy: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. As a potential nursing and social work student, empathy is an important trait I need to learn and develop. After graduating in May of 2018, I plan to attend Kansas State University to study Pre-Nursing and Social Work; then, I intend to transfer to a nursing school, either Baker School of Nursing or Washburn University. Both nurses and social workers must care deeply about their patients, using skills such as patience, kindness, and empathy. A career in nursing stands out to me because I want to impact people’s lives in a positive way. Oftentimes, patients encounter nurses in a hospital or office for unfortunate reasons, such as sickness or discomfort. A nurse focuses on
It is about the personal understanding and treatment of the patient as an individual, interpreting the situation from their perspective. Gain a complete understanding grounded in professional and research-based knowledge of clinical practice; personal reflection and a consciousness of the patient’s attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. (Olckers, Gibbs & Duncan 2007: 2-3) Empathy involves gaining insight into patients’ backgrounds, core values, relationships and medical history through dialogue. Chochinov 2007: 1877 - 1877. Reflective Dimension:..
The capability of an individual to understand and relate to the client is called empathy. When an individual is effective in empathizing with the client, it can be argued that a patient is likely to feel validated (Davies, 2014, p.198). This validation creates a sense of acceptance and closeness in the relationship between the nurse and client. The client will then comfortably have the ability to express any underlying feelings or problems to the nurse. The comfortability experienced by the client in the relationship will then slowly develop into trust. Davies (2014) states that when the patient trusts the practice nurse, the health professional is provided with a more complete and accurate understanding of the patient’s condition. In this way, empathetic nursing ultimately improves the quality of care that the practice nurse can provide (p.200). An empathetic attitude towards a client helps him/her to realize that the nurses are relatable and that they are human too. This provides the nurse and client relationship with a strong foundation that can further develop into an accepting and open relationship where both parties can benefit. The nurse will be able to provide the client with specific care and be able to feel a sense of accomplishment by caring for the client. The establishment of trust in a nurse and client relationship generates