As a nurse, I understand that care and compassion are the cornerstones of my competence and performance. A nurse should often be of utmost competence and professionalism, and the aspects of personal approach can be disregarded. The responsibilities that a nurse faces and must carry out, for example, creating a safe environment or collecting data, should be undertaken with care and compassion (“Nursing: Scope and standards of practice”). As an example of this, I would like to present my personal experience with a patient who suffered from dementia. The subject of this case was very difficult to communicate with, and initially, I struggled with doubts about my abilities and expertise. Through research, I have discovered that other professionals also find this matter to be challenging (Low et al., 2019). Reading about their experiences enabled me to find strength and empathy for my difficult patient.
Through the experience of seeking guidance from sources of authority, I realized that compassion is a matter that supersedes myself and the patient. It should include other professionals in the field, and I have sought help from others; I feel ready to extend my own hand to my colleagues. This notion especially rings true since I have taken the iCARE Self-Assessment and considered that my scores were specifically high in aspects of communication. As effective and fruitful communication is essential to good team building and patient safety, it should be one of the nurse’s priorities to consider and study it in their practice. It is important to ensure that workplace communication follows ethical engagement rules (Priest, Goodwin, & Dahlstrom, 2018). Therefore, I believe that compassion and care in nursing involve caring for the patient and considering cultural and social interactions among colleagues.
References
American Nurses Association. (2021). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice. American Nurses Association.
Low, L. F., McGrath, M., Swaffer, K., & Brodaty, H. (2019). Communicating a diagnosis of dementia: A systematic mixed studies review of attitudes and practices of health practitioners. Dementia, 18(7–8), 2856–2905.
Priest, S., Goodwin, J., & Dahlstrom, M. F. (2018). Ethics and practice in science communication. University of Chicago Press.