Empathy and compassion are two important concepts when it comes to nursing. Being able to integrate those into daily interactions with not just our patients but those around us is something that can take years to get right. As nurses we are always learning and knowing our limits, with being empathetic and compassionate towards others, it can elevate our care towards people.  

What does empathy mean? Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others (Empathy 2020). As a nurse we are empathetic to those that we treat but we need to find a balance in being empathetic as it can be overwhelming in the amount that we take on. Being a good nurse means knowing when and how much to take on and when to be empathetic towards a patient. Being empathetic towards a person can make the difference in care, everyone can be compassionate but being able to be empathetic towards someone can take that care to another level. Being able to understand what someone is going through and share that feeling of understanding can make a patient feel safe where they are and know that they are going to get the care they deserve.  

 Compassion on the other hand is being sympathetic or having concern for the suffering or harm of others, suffering together(Definition of Compassion | Dictionary.Com, 2012). Being compassionate means going out of your way to help a person. Going out of your way to help a person can turn their whole healing process around. When in the hospital many people feel alone especially now with COVID, so being able to make their environment safe and a place to heal is always important. As well as being open to what they need is always helpful for a patient to know they have someone willing to listen to what they are saying. During this semester, we were able to go to a hospital and put our knowledge of compassion to work as well as the other skills that we learned this semester. While I was there, I was able to interact with patients and use different techniques of compassion and care towards those patients.   

Compassion and empathy can be found anywhere you look. This semester we learned about Watson’s 10 caritive factors, these factors include compassion and empathy in them as well. When thinking about the different factors and how they can be applied to the clinical setting as well as daily living. When thinking about these, I can think back to how I used them in the clinical setting this semester. Some of the factors that I was able to use were being and developing a helping/trusting, care relationship with a patient(Watson’s caritive factors). I was able to help patients when they were most vulnerable like helping someone to and from the bathroom as they couldn’t help themselves. Being able to go to the bathroom is something that defines you as independent and not being able to do that can be frustrating for some people. While being there for these people in those situations I was also creating a healing and safe environment for these people to be themselves. Another one of the caritive factors that I was able to use in the clinical setting was being able to be present and supportive of the expressions of both positive and negative feelings that the patients had. Supporting a patient on how they feel can help them feel heard and can even switch their thinking of a situation once they know someone is listening and can help them through the hard times.  Being able to do use these factors and being there for those patients, I was able to use my empathy as well as compassion for them to make thier experience and mine better.  

This semester we were able to go to a hospital setting and use our knowledge of empathy, compassion, as well as Watson’s caritive factors. During clinicals I was able to incorporate compassion and empathy in the care that I provided for my patient. The way I incorporated these was that I had a patient who was there for a stroke and was being sent home soon, they were independent and able to do many of their activities by themself, they only needed help with getting from place to place. I was able to be there for this patient in a different way than I thought. I was able to be a friendly face and someone that they could talk to. I was compassionate in the way that I was there to listen to their stories about their grandchildren and what they wanted to do when they get out. I was able to create help-trusting authentic relationship with this patient, by being someone that they could talk to about anything they wanted. I may not have thought I was doing much in that moment by just standing and listening but to that patient I was there for them when they needed someone to talk to. I was able to help my patient in a way that may not have been physical but in an emotional way. I helped them change after they went to the bathroom and ended up being wet. In that moment the patient probably felt embarrassed about having a younger student change them. I didn’t think much of it, I helped and was a kind about helping them, but they thought more of it. They were grateful that I was helping them especially because being able to go to the bathroom is something that is an independent thing, we take for granted and being there for that person in that moment meant a lot to them.  

In the future I can remember this experience and learn from it.  Even though I didn’t think I was doing much or thought I was being annoying for doing my assessments, I’ll remember that maybe all someone needs, is a person to who’ll listen. I’ll be able to look back at this and remember that I should start a conversation with someone as maybe they are going through something and that’s the first time they’ve been asked if they’re ok. I can make their experience and environment just a little more comfortable and make it somewhere that they can heal and feel safe to be open about anything. I will be sure to incorporate what I’ve learned into the other clinical setting that I will go to.