Compassionate Care: Correlation and Predictors of Nurses’ and Patients’ Opinions

Hanan Elzeblawy Hassan^1, , Aziza Abozid², Abeer Elmghwry³ and Eman Moustafa Ibrahim⁴

¹Maternal and Newborn Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Beni-Suef University, Egypt

²Community Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Beni-Suef University, Egypt

³Community Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Damietta University, Egypt

⁴Ambulatory Department, Hammed Medical Corporation, Qatar

Cite this paper

Hanan Elzeblawy Hassan, Aziza Abozid, Abeer Elmghwry and Eman Moustafa Ibrahim. Compassionate Care: Correlation and Predictors of Nurses’ and Patients’ Opinions. American Journal of Public Health Research. 2021; 9(6):234-243. doi: 10.12691/AJPHR-9-6-2

Abstract

Background: Compassion has also been defined as acknowledgment and engagement with one's own suffer and the suffering of others, together with a deep commitment to work towards alleviating and preventing that suffering. This definition highlights two psychological components of compassion that provide a direction for the therapy. Aim: This study aims to evaluate the correlation and predictors of nurses’ and patients’ opinions about compassion in Beni-Suef city. Design: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used in conducting the study. Setting: This research was conducted at Beni-Suef University Hospital, General Hospital, as well as Continuing/Long-term care and Home Health Care (HHC) services. Sample: 140 nurses being employed in the current health care facility for at least one year were eligible for inclusion in the study sample and all elderly (140) patients receiving care in the above-mentioned settings. Tools: Two tools have been used to gather data; 1) Structured questionnaire interview sheet included data related to socio-demographic characteristics for nurses and patients. 2) Compassionate Care Scale. Results: Statistically significant moderate positive correlations were identified among nurses’ scores of compassionate care attitude, practice, and confidence. Nurses’ scores of compassionate care confidence and practice had statistically significant weak positive correlations with their qualification, and negative correlations with their age and experience. The unmarried status of the nurse was the only statistically significant independent negative predictor of the compassionate care attitude score. A strong statistically significant negative correlation between patients’ scores of opinions about patient expectations and nurses’ attitude toward compassionate care (r=-0.900). Conclusion: The study findings concluded a strongest correlation between the scores of nurse competence and caring attributes. A strong statistically significant negative correlation between patients’ scores of opinions about patient expectations and nurses’ attitude toward compassionate care was found. Recommendations: Replication of this study on a large representative probability sample is highly recommended to achieve more generalization of the results for further research. The impact of such training interventions on elderly patients’ opinions about compassionate care should also be investigated.

Keywords

compassionate care, correlation, nurses’ predictors, patients’ opinions

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References

[1]	Greenberg, M.A. (2011). ‘Care and compassion’, Clinics in Dermatology; 29(1): 104-106.
[2]	Straughair C. (2012). Exploring compassion: implications for contemporary nursing. Part 1', British Journal of Nursing; 21(3): 160-164.
[3]	Francis R. (2013). Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry. London: The Stationery Office.
[4]	Hehir B. (2013). Report A crisis of compassion: Who cares?: Battle of ideas, 20-21 October 2012, London, Nursing Ethics; 20(1): 109-114.
[5]	Ibrahim E., Mahmod A., Elmaghwry A., Hassan H. Compassionate Care Delivery: Elderlies' Perception. Research in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 2021; 9(1): 24-32.
[6]	Frampton S.B., Guastello S., and Lepore M. (2013). Compassion as the foundation of patient centered care: the importance of compassion in action. J Comp Eff Res; 2: 443-455.
[7]	Dewar B., Adamson E., Smith S., Surfleet J., and King L. (2013). Clarifying misconceptions about compassionate care. J Adv Nurs; 70: 1738-1747.
[8]	Sims S., Leamy M., Levenson R., Brearley S., Ross F., and Harris R. (2020). The delivery of compassionate nursing care in a tick-box culture: Qualitative perspectives from a realist evaluation of intentional rounding. Int J Nurs Stud., 107: 103580.
[9]	Gilbert P. (2015). The evolution and social dynamics of compassion. Soc Personal Compass, 9: 239-254.
[10]	Blomberg K., Griffiths P., and Wengstrom Y. (2016). Interventions for compassionate nursing care: a systematic review. Int J Nurs Stud; 62: 137-155.
[11]	Rodriguez A.M., and Lown BA. (2019). Measuring compassionate healthcare with the 12-item Schwartz Center Compassionate Care Scale. PLoS ONE; 14(9): e0220911.
[12]	Hemberg J., and Wiklund Gustin L. (2020). Caring from the heart as belonging-The basis for mediating compassion. Nurs Open.; 7(2): 660-668.
[13]	Dalvandi A., Vaisi-Raygani A., Nourozi K., Ebadi A., and Rahgozar M. (2019). The Importance and Extent of Providing Compassionate Nursing Care from The Viewpoint of Patients Hospitalized in Educational Hospitals in Kermanshah - Iran 2017. Open Access Maced J Med Sci.. 7(6): 1047-1052. Published 2019 Mar 28.
[14]	Nunberg G., and Newman E. (2011). The American heritage dictionary of the English language. 5th ed. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
[15]	Sommers-Spijkerman M., Elfrink T.R., Drossaert C.H.C., Schreurs K.M.G., and Bohlmeijer E.T. (2019). Exploring compassionate attributes and skills among individuals participating in compassion-focused therapy for enhancing well-being. Psychol Psychother. 10.1111/papt.12235.
[16]	Arimitsu K. (2016). The effects of a program to enhance self- compassion in Japanese individuals: A randomized controlled pilot study. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(6): 559-571.
[17]	Taylor A., Hodgson D., Gee M., and Collins K. (2017). Compassion in healthcare: a concept analysis. Journal of Radiotherapy in Practice; 16(4): 350-360.
[18]	Su J.J., Masika G.M., Paguio J.T., and Redding S.R. (2020). Defining compassionate nursing care. Nursing Ethics; 27(2): 480-493.
[19]	Fortin M., Mercer S.W., Salisbury C. (2014). Introducing multimorbidity In: ABC of multimorbidity.; 1-25.
[20]	World Health Organization [WHO], World report on ageing and health. 2015. Luxembourg: World Health Organization, 2015: 1-260.
[21]	Hassan H., Abozed A., Mohamed A., Ibrahim E. Compassionate Care Delivery for Elderly Patients: Nurses' Perception. American Journal of Applied Psychology, 2021; 9(1).
[22]	Northwood M., Ploeg J., and Markle-Reid M. (2017). Integrative review of the social determinants of health in older adults with multimorbidity. J Adv Nurs.
[23]	Donnelly S., O’Brien M., and Begley E. (2016). I’d prefer to stay at home but I don’t have a choice: meeting older people’s preference for care: policy, but what about practice? University College Dublin School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice.
[24]	Stenholm S., Westerlund H., and Head J. (2015). Comorbidity and functional trajectories from midlife to old age: the Health and Retirement Study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci; 70: 332-338.
[25]	Eckerblad J., Theander K., and Ekdahl A. (2015). To adjust and endure: a qualitative study of symptom burden in older people with multimorbidity. Appl Nurs Res; 28: 322-327.
[26]	Commisso E., McGilton KS., and Ayala A.P. (2017). Identifying and understanding the health and social care needs of older adults with multiple chronic conditions and their caregivers: a protocol for a scoping review. BMJ Open.; 7(12):e018247.
[27]	Kemper K., Larrimore D., Dozier J., and Woods C. (2006). Impact of a medical school elective in cultivating compassion through touch therapies. Complement Health Pract Rev; 11: 47-56.
[28]	Burnell L., and Agan D. (2013). Compassionate Care: Can it be defined and measured? The Development of the Compassionate Care Assessment Tool. Available at: www.internationaljournalofcaringsciences.org.
[29]	Grimani K. (2017). Measuring Compassionate Care: Reliability and Validity of the Greek Version of a Compassionate Care Assessment Tool. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 2017; 23(3): 353-364.
[30]	Sireci S.G., Wang Y., Harter J., and Ehrlich E.J. (2006). Evaluating guidelines for test adaptations: A methodological analysis of translation quality. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology; 37: 557-567.
[31]	Zhang Y.Y., Zhang C., Han X.R., Li W., and Wang Y.L. (2018). Determinants of compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue and burn out in nursing: A correlative meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore)., 97(26): e11086.
[32]	Ruiz-Fernández M.D., Pérez-García E., Ortega-Galán Á.M. (2020). Quality of Life in Nursing Professionals: Burnout, Fatigue, and Compassion Satisfaction. Int J Environ Res Public Health; 17(4): 1253.
[33]	Kolthoff K.L., and Hickman S.E. (2017). Compassion fatigue among nurses working with olde. Geriatric Nursing, 38 (2017): 106e109.
[34]	Bray L., O'Brien M.R., Kirton J., Zubairu K., and Christiansen A. (2014). “The role of professional education in developing compassionate practitioners: A mixed methods study exploring the perceptions xof health professionals and pre-registration students”, Nurse Education Today; 34(3): 480-486.
[35]	Henderson A., and Jones J. (2017). Developing and Maintaining Compassionate Care in Nursing. 2012 RCN Publishing Company Ltd. PMID: 29094531.
[36]	Coffey A., Saab M.M., and Landers M. (2019). The impact of compassionate care education on nurses: A mixed-method systematic review. J Adv Nurs.; 75(11): 2340-2351.
[37]	Giménez-Espert M.D.C., Valero-Moreno S., and Prado-Gascó V.J. (2019). Evaluation of emotional skills in nursing using regression and QCA models: A transversal study. Nurse Educ Today; 74: 31-37.
[38]	Sinclair S., Norris J., McConnell S.J. M., Chochinov H., Hack T.F.M., Hagen N., McClement S.A., and Bouchal S.R. (2016). Compassion: a scoping reviews of the healthcare literature. BioMed Central Pallative Care; 15 (6): 3-16.
[39]	Foley H., Steel A., and Adams J. (2020). Consultation with complementary medicine practitioners by individuals with chronic conditions: Characteristics and reasons for consultation in Australian clinical settings. Health Soc Care Community. 10.1111/hsc.13072.
[40]	Clarke L.H., Bennett E.V., and Korotchenko A. (2014). Negotiating vulnerabilities: how older adults with multiple chronic conditions interact with physicians. Canadian Journal on Aging; 33(1): 26-37.
[41]	Sinclair S., Beamer K., and Hack T.F. (2017a). Sympathy, empathy, and compassion: A grounded theory study of palliative care patients' understandings, experiences, and preferences. Palliat Med., 31(5): 437-447.