Compassionate Care

Question 1

What is compassion?

Answer 1

Difficult to describe
Essentially an interaction where one person recognises and responds to the suffering of another person by giving emotional energy

Question 2

Explain the importance of compassionate care- what does it improve?

Answer 2

Improves:

• Patient Experience
• HCW experience/well-being & satisfaction
• Drug compliance
• Disease control
• Clinical outcomes
• Is the foundation for therapeutic (& other working) relationships
• Promotes stronger teams, reduces burn out & staff turn over, medical errors

Question 3

How is lack of compassion linked with disciplinary action?

Answer 3

Disciplinary action as a doctor:
Unprofessional Behaviour in Medical School Associated with Subsequent Disciplinary Action. e.g. Impaired relationships with students, or faculty, nurses or with patients & families

Question 4

What does compassion/compassionate environment feel like?

Answer 4

Connecting with someone
* Feeling like you are being listened to/cared for
* Feeling important, respected and understood
Basic needs are met (food, drink, sleep, pain reduction, cleanliness)

NOTE: Things that can’t be controlled must still be noticed and acknowledged as they still impact users/providers

Question 5

What behaviours demonstrate compassion?

Answer 5

Noticing someone: Make eye contact, smile/welcoming them, good manners, introducing yourself
Giving someone your time
Focussing on someone and their needs:
Asking about their situation w interest, listening
Responding to and asking Qs
Making them feel comfortable, checking they are OK

Question 6

Give the PERSONAL Challenges reported by students & healthcare professionals which affect compassion:

Answer 6

• Time pressures
• Feeling helpless
• Opening a ‘can of worms’
• ‘Making’ someone cry
• Not understanding the perspective of the other person
• Saying the wrong thing
• Sounding patronising
• Opposing beliefs or cultural constructs

Question 7

Give the SYSTEMIC Challenges reported by students & healthcare professionals which affect compassion:

Answer 7

Systemic

• Time
• Tired & overworked
• Shift patterns
• Under - resourced (££, PPE)
• Burnt - out

Question 8

What is flexible empathy?

Answer 8

Neuroscience shows that a focus on cognitive tasks blunts empathy, and vice versa
Learn to employ the mental functions accordingly E.g. resuscitation situation:

• Must think analytically to save a life
• Don’t let emotions cloud judgment or actions
• After the resuscitation:turn off the analytical and cognitive processes.
  Focus on compassion for relatives and patient
  
  • Practitioners need to switch between cognitive and empathetic modes to handle different situations effectively.

Question 9

How can we mitigate some threats to compassion?

Answer 9

Using patient-centred skills can help w eliciting the patients’ concerns to managing time.
Those who regularly empathise improve their own satisfaction and well-being, preventing burn-out

Crying is not necessarily a bad thing. People in distress tend to cry after feeling understood. Can be therapeutic and is often an expression of trust. We rarely ‘make’ someone cry; it is likely that they are already upset.

Question 10

How to monitor, maximise & maintain
Compassion?

Answer 10

*Make compassion a priority alongside clinical and analytical skills.
*Be brave to risk saying the wrong thing, becoming upset, or misunderstanding.
*Talk to patients and families about their life, experiences, fears, and priorities.
*Notice good and bad examples of compassionate care in colleagues and role models.
*Communicate with patients, carers, colleagues, and friends.
*Reflect regularly on your practice and mental health.

Question 11

How do we measure and monitor compassionate care?

Answer 11

Schwartz Centre Compassionate Care Scale
valid, reliable, correlates with pt satisfaction.
Compassion Barometer:
*Develop a personal toolkit to measure and maintain compassion. This could include key questions about kindness and understanding patient perspectives, noting new facts about patients, allowing pauses, and asking if there’s anything more they want to add.