A compassionate nurse is one that is empathetic to the suffering and pain of his/her patients. Compassion in nursing is crucial to the overall wellbeing of patients. It makes patients feel loved, comfortable, and stress-free when they are feeling ill, in excruciating pain, or when they have a mental illness (Association, 2015) . Nurses provide confidence and support to patients when they are about to face a surgical procedure, preparing for a lengthy surgery, or when they are fighting a terminal disease. This paper provides the importance of delivering compassion in nursing and an instance where I attended to a patient who required compassionate care.
Compassion is the ability of a nurse to be aware of the distress of patients and have the desire to alleviate their situation. Kindness in nursing goes above compassionate care and entails entering into a patient's experience and allowing them to retain their dignity and independence.
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Compassion in nursing requires more than being competent in the profession and having the required knowledge and skills needed to treat patients. It encompasses outward care through actions that involve the emotional aspects of the nurse-patient relationship (Giovannoni, 2017) . In m y nursing profession, one instance that I had to show my compassion to a patient was when I was providing care to a sex offender who was compelled to undergo sex offender treatment.
During that period, I was forced to go out of my way to understand my patient at a different level so that I could provide the best care to him. This also helped me know what he was going through, whether he harbored feelings of guilt or remorse for his actions. Most importantly, I had to exercise active listening skills so that I could pick up both verbal and nonverbal cues when talking to the patient. One way that I could have used to improve the care I accorded to the patient was to knock on the door before a patient entered so I could show him dignity and respect. Besides, an action such as knocking goes a long way to give a modicum of privacy in instances where there is limited privacy.
References
Association, A. N. (2015). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (3rd ed). New York: American Nurses Association.
Giovannoni, J. (2017). Perspectives: Compassion for others begins with loving-kindness toward self. Journal of Research in Nursing Vol. 22 (1-2) , 173-178.
