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The Importance of Empathy in the Nursing Practice
If you are working as a nurse and do not have any empathy for your patients, you may be in the wrong profession. It is less likely that nurses will appropriately care for patients without the vital element of empathy (Digby, 2016). The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of empathy, why it is important to nursing practice and to reflect on how this concept resonates with my personal professional practice. The concept of empathy will be explored by examining the use of sympathy versus empathy, empowerment, and non-verbal communication.
Concept Description
Sympathy versus Empathy “You must have empathy, not sympathy for the patients you care for. Understand their feels and show
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Empathy is an important concept in nursing because it enables nurses to relate to patient’s experiences and recognize their feelings (Mercer & Reynolds, 2012). Empathy and compassion encourages patients to share personal thoughts or feelings and helps them feel relaxed and secure (Doherty & Thompson, 2014). In regards to patients’ own definition of quality of care, empathy appears to be a key factor in primary care (Mercer & Reynolds, 2012). According to the Nursing Best Practice Guideline recommendations, empathy falls under a requisite capacity for establishing therapeutic relationships (RNAO, 2017). The professionals say, “empathy is the ability of the nurse to enter into the client’s relational world, to see and feel the world as the client sees and feels it, and to explore the meaning it has for the client” (RNAO, 2002, para 21). Empathy refers to understanding and expressing what the client’s health care experience entails from the client’s perspective (CNO, 2009). Critical components include validating and resonating with the meaning of that experience (CNO, 2009). The nurse-patient relationship is dynamic and interactive and it is within this dynamic interplay that empathy exists (Maruca et al., 2015). Taking part in a therapeutic relationship directly impacts patient care which leads to positive patient outcomes and accurate diagnosis (Doherty & Thompson, 2014). Empathetic relationships entail understanding the perceptions and needs of the patient, empowering the patient to learn and cope more effectively, and reducing or resolving the patient’s problems (Mercer & Reynolds, 2012). Not only does a strong therapeutic relationship improve patient care but it also contributes to the health professional’s satisfaction and sense of accomplishment (Ozcan, Oflaz & Bakir, 2012). Moreover, empathy strengthens the
When we see patients, we must remember that we are not simply treating a disease. We are caring for people with lives, hobbies, jobs, families, and friends, who are likely in a very vulnerable position. We must ensure that we use the status of physicians to benefit patients first and foremost, and do what we promised to when we entered the profession: provide care and improve quality of life, and hopefully leave the world a little better than it was
Empathy is used to create change in the world by reaching out to the emotions of people and attending to them. It is used to help others learn and decide on matters that would not be reasonable without feelings attached to them. Empathy helps bring together communities that would have long ago drifted apart, but instead welcomed all who were different. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. This attribute of human-beings really allows us to not only attend to situations as if they were our own, but it allows us to feel most of what others feel because humans are very much alike in some ways. In many of the articles and novels that we have read this quarter, characters from different pieces of context have portrayed empathy whether it was toward
I pray that the busyness of life, the tasks that need to be done, the science of healthcare, sleep deprivation, or monotony will never cloud the love and compassion that I have for people. Personally, I love making connections with people. I love giving people a chance to tell their stories. During my nursing practice, I foresee that I will do my best to be the most caring nurse possible. The responsibility lays within each individual nurse as to the level of caring and compassion that they bring to carrying out their nursing duties. I will continually choose to focus on the needs of my patients above my own. Displaying empathy, I will strive to put myself in each one of their shoes and make self-reflection a priority. I foresee that I will do whatever is within my power to enhance trust, comfort, happiness, and wellness for my patients. This may look like spending extra time with a patient, visiting a patient when I’m off-duty, providing emotional or spiritual resources to a patient, respecting a patient’s beliefs and values, providing for any physical needs or extra comfort measures, or just lending a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on. My patients will always know that they are not
In the nurse-patient relationship, there are three phases that help the relationship develop. Craven and Hirnle (2009) describe the first phase, orientation, “consists of introductions and agreement between nurse and client about their mutual roles and responsibilities” (p. 329). It is in this orientation phase that first impressions are made a...
Nursing is the core of care. The essential is not communication via words or language, but care that is imparted by sincere interest is interdenominational and transcends culture, language, and treatments. Relational consciousness is a significant component of a compassionate nursing practice. Doane, & Varcoe, (2015) state that relational awareness encompasses recognition that individuals are situated and constituted through cultural, interpersonal, social, political and emotional processes. Operating from the center of which we are, with insight and awareness is essential to phenomenological nursing practice. I will be exploring my personal values and beliefs
Kirk, T. W. (2007). Beyond empathy: clinical intimacy in nursing practice. Nursing Philosophy, 8(4), 233-243. doi:10.1111/j.1466-769X.2007.00318.x
Every person’s needs must be recognized, respected, and filled if he or she must attain wholeness. The environment must attuned to that wholeness for healing to occur. Healing must be total or holistic if health must be restored or maintained. And a nurse-patient relationship is the very foundation of nursing (Conway et al 2011; Johnson, 2011). The Theory recognizes a person’s needs above all. It sets up the conducive environment to healing. It addresses and works on the restoration and maintenance of total health rather than only specific parts or aspect of the patient’s body or personality. And these are possible only through a positive healing relationship between the patient and the nurse (Conway et al, Johnson).
But how does one achieve this mindset? Carper (1948) answers this as well; empathy. Nurses use empathy to act not as an audience but as a possible contributor. As said earlier, empathy allows for better perception skills. As a result, with good perception skills comes access to more specific information that forms what Copper (2001) calls ‘particular knowledge’ or subjective knowledge obtained by a nurse about an individual client (p. 6). It is knowledge nurse can have access to if they have enough respect for their
According to the College of Nurse of Ontario (2006), empathy is one of the five key components of the nurse-client relationship and is one of the most powerful tools. You don’t need to know how your patient feels to be empathetic but letting them know that you are trying to understand is a good start. It can be used to describe a variety of experiences and had been defined by emotional researchers “as the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling” (University of California, Berkeley). Having the ability to empathize doesn’t mean you will or that you are willing to help someone in need but it is an important first step towards a compassionate
Egan (1994, pp. 108-21) discusses the use of empathy as a tool for assisting the worker to
Upon returning to work, Jack changes his outlook towards his job, his coworkers, patients and his interns. He teaches his students exactly what it will feel like to be the patient. He was able to take his experience and teach others the importance of communicating empathy in the healthcare field. He is now able to look past his patients’ illnesses and treat them as patients with feelings and respect. The lesson he takes with him is was how important life is when we use the right communication.
It takes empathy for people by upstanding morals and values. As a nurse, my goal is to provide competent, empathetic, compassionate, and optimal holistic care to the best of my ability to my patients. This philosophy stems from the values and beliefs instilled in me during my childhood. These values and beliefs are accompanied by trust worthiness, respect, compassion, and that is what drove me to this profession and is currently driving me as I continue my journey as a bedside nurse.
Nursing is a field that requires constant review and transformation of its original scope of practice as the world also evolves into a more technological and interconnected society. Along history there had been astonishing breakthroughs and discoveries that have changed the course of action in the health care field. However, among all these changes the unique values that make up the essence of nursing continue to thrive. Some of these characteristics are empathy, establishment a holistic view of the patient, critical thinking and care through a trust relationship. This last aspect plays a crucial role in a successfully executed nursing process. Therefore, the present work aims to describe and explain the principles of Hildegard Peplau’s Interpersonal Theory and its implications in the nurse-client relationship through different nursing roles.
Sympathy; what dangerous feeling to us Social Workers, yet it comes naturally without any warning and we have to make sure we convert it to empathy before its too late. We have to make sure we do not only agree with some aspects of the clients feelings, beliefs, etc. that he/she believe in which translates into sympathy, but above all we should involve experience, understand and tune into her/his entire inner world to represent empathy. If we Social service workers use empathy, we will respond more expandable to the client.
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:..