In education we often use the word critical to mean that we have been able to analyse what we hear and read about. It is important therefore to be critical when thinking about compassion and not to use the term lightly. Compassion is too important to become a tick box exercise and as we can […]
In mental health care perphaps more so than in any other healthcare field stigma is a huge barrier to people seeking help when they need it. Even if a person is mindful of how they are feeling and are self’ compassionate enough to know that they need help the stigma and self-stigma prevents them. This […]
Education for sustainable development is a global tendency of the 21st century. ( Renigere 2014) While teaching students about nursing is very enjoyable, at some stage we will need to assess their knowledge. We should also be able to assess other people in the same way if we are to take a compassionate approach to […]
What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. W.H.Davies 1871-1940 Many people may think that compassion is something that we should do everyday in our work as healthcare professionals and to some extent that is true but if we are compassionate because we are told we […]
I often teach student nurses about suicide prevention and how it is everybody’s business. Something not every nurse thinks about in the busy working day but it is not just mental health nurses who need to be alert when people are feeling suicidal. It is also an important part of of compassionate nursing practice as […]
The science for compassion is sparse but can be found in other areas of research and one that is interesting me more and more is the process of mentalisation. This process is used in psychoanalytical therapy to help people who have trouble understanding another person’s emotions such as in mental illness or learning disabilities. Now, […]
Diversity is a frequently used word in professional education and many people take for granted what it actually means. It is a word we hear on a daily basis either in work or in the media. Many people when asked might describe the word as respecting that people are different to each other or that […]
To begin writing from our pain eventually engenders compassion for our small and groping lives. Out of this broken state there comes a tenderness for the cement below our feet, the dried grass cracking in a terrible wind. Natalie Goldberg 2015 Today I attended my first creative writing for wellbeing workshop. I had wanted to […]
How can compassion protect us against stress and burnout in the nursing profession? We hear many stories of good and bad nursing that demonstrates the importance of compassion. It is also improtant in protecting the people that we care for as well as our colleagues, environment and families. Fundamentally compassion provides the opportunity for us […]
When we talk about compassion in nursing we are not talking about a unique skill or intervention as this implies that compassion is something we do some of the time. Neither are we talking about personal qualities, although there are some that might argue that compassion is innate and cannot be taught. I would argue […]
Welcome to my blog on compassionate nursing care. We hear so much about compassion in nursing and arguments for whether it can be taught or not that I thought I would start to gather some evidence for one of the most important skills in the profession. Without compassion we cannot demonstrate our knowledge, empathy or […]