Compassion is a key component of nursing that allows nurses to give patients the best care possible. It can make all the difference in the patient’s recovery.
While various barriers may impact nurses’ ability to show compassion, some simple practices can help you do it. These include building strong team connections and making compassionate care a normal part of your everyday practice.
It Helps to Ease Anxiety
Patients often find medical treatment a lonely experience, so compassionate care is crucial. Compassionate healthcare professionals like Armen Parajian, help to ease patients’ feelings of isolation and loneliness by engaging them in conversations about their daily lives, hobbies, and other interests.
Physicians and nurses who have compassion tend to be more successful at encouraging healthy patient behavior and lowering stress levels in their patients. Studies also indicate that compassionate physicians are more satisfied and happy as medical professionals.
A recent study suggests that compassion training can also alleviate anxiety. Researchers found that people who attended a course on compassion developed more empathy-related skills.
Nurses and healthcare providers should take time for themselves to recharge their batteries so that they can provide compassionate care to others. Getting proper sleep, maintaining a nutritious diet, and practicing yoga or meditation are all beneficial to reducing stress and providing emotional relief.
It Lowers Medical Expenses
Compassion is a great way to improve the quality of care for patients, and one of the main benefits is that it can lower medical expenses. This is because compassionate care is more likely to result in less diagnostic testing that isn’t needed, fewer referrals to specialists, and fewer hospital visits.
In a clinical trial, compassion was found to be correlated with lower medical expenses for primary care patients. This is because it allows physicians to spend more time connecting with patients and listening to them.
This is important, as it gives them a more holistic view of the patient’s overall state. It also allows them to advocate for their patients.
Some research shows that compassion increases trust promotes adherence to medications and therapies, and is associated with better patient outcomes. It also reduces burnout and reduces the risk of making medical errors.
It Reduces Loneliness and Isolation
Loneliness is a very common and serious problem that affects everyone. It can contribute to various health conditions, including heart disease and stroke. It can also affect the elderly and postpartum women significantly more than younger people.
In addition to affecting people’s physical health, loneliness can be a major contributing factor to mental health disorders, such as depression and anxiety. It can also increase the risk of developing metabolic disorders like hypertension and diabetes.
As a result, it is important to address the issue of loneliness in healthcare. There are many ways that compassionate care can reduce the symptoms of loneliness, including by bringing people together and allowing them to connect with others.
Compassionate care is a necessary skill that every health professional must possess. However, competing demands and challenges can be difficult to practice. This can lead to compassion fatigue, which can cause emotional, physical, and behavioral symptoms and mental and physical exhaustion.
It Increases Patient Satisfaction
Compassion is an important aspect of healthcare that closely relates to patient outcomes. It helps patients achieve better medication adherence, adhere to post-surgery guidelines, and experience a faster recovery from common colds and other medical procedures.
It also increases patient satisfaction. Hospitals that emphasize compassionate care see fewer staff turnover, higher HCAHPS scores, and a lower cost of care.
When compassion is present, it enables nurses and doctors to provide more comprehensive care to their patients. It allows them to understand their patient’s emotions and help alleviate their pain and suffering.
Leaders need to create an environment where compassion is valued and encouraged by both management and employees. This can be done by fostering teamwork and building trust. It also helps to train employees to be compassionate and respond to difficult situations.
