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Factors facilitating nurses to deliver compassionate care: a qualitative study
Author(s) -
Zamanzadeh Vahid,
Valizadeh Leila,
Rahmani Azad,
Cingel Margreet,
Ghafourifard Mansour
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of caring sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.678
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1471-6712
pISSN - 0283-9318
DOI - 10.1111/scs.12434
Subject(s) - compassion , nursing , qualitative research , health care , context (archaeology) , empathy , exploratory research , psychology , medicine , social psychology , sociology , paleontology , social science , political science , anthropology , law , economics , biology , economic growth
Background Compassion is an important ethical foundation of all healthcare professionals especially for nursing. However, there is little understanding of factors which could help and motivate nurses to deliver compassionate care in modern healthcare practices today. Moreover, a cultural context may affect the way compassionate care is delivered by healthcare professionals. Aims and objectives This study aimed to explore what facilitates compassionate care in daily practice from the unique perspective of Iranian nurses. Research methods This qualitative exploratory study was conducted in four hospitals. In this study, 16 nurses were selected from various wards. Data were collected by in‐depth, face‐to‐face interviews. For data analysis, a conventional content analysis approach was used. Results As the most important theme, the theme ‘deepening individual's capacity for compassionate care’ emerged, which consisted of three categories: the personal system of values and beliefs, patient experience and positive role models of compassion. Conclusions Addressing and developing nurses’ capacity for compassion is possible by providing organisational support and professional education, next to recruiting nurses with a high motivation to relieve patient suffering. These recommendations would help to provide high‐quality compassionate care in healthcare practices. Moreover, nurses could improve their individual capacity for compassion by following their value and belief system and by considering their colleagues as a role model of compassionate practice.