NUR 601 Week 5 Blog Post 1: Empathy in Interpersonal Relationships

My concept analysis project is actually on the topic of empathy, so I found this video and blog post prompt especially interesting. Empathy is a concept crucial to nursing–it is what makes the nursing process different from machines monitoring and medicating a patient on demand. Empathy can be described as the action of experiencing the perspective of another person. Empathy is important to patients in the fact that it makes them feel heard, and therefore cared for. Because one of the most important aims of nursing is to make patients feel heard and cared for, empathy is especially important to this field. Recently, I sat with a patient who was crying and inconsolable. She was experiencing emotions such as guilt, disbelief, shame, anger, fear, and sadness. All I wanted to do was tell her something to make her feel better, or fix her problems. From previous experience, however, both in my personal life and professional experiences, I learned that the best way to approach situations with heightened negative emotions is often to simply be with the individual in distress. Allow her to express her emotions, reflect them back to her if indicated. This method helped this patient calm down.

Value: Complete at 100/Incomplete at 0

Due: Day 7

Gradebook Category: Blogs

Watch The Heart of Compassion Video (2:30 Minutes) for this blog assignment. The Heart of Compassion Video Transcript.

In a blog post of three to five sentences long, describe how empathy is an important part of your nursing practice.

Please refer to this Grading Rubric for details on how this activity will be graded.

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Select the Add a New Topic button.
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The Heart of Compassion Video Transcript

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant? Henry David Thoreau

(Man in wheelchair) Has been dreading this appointment. Fears he waited too long.

(Man leaving hospital) Wife’s surgery went well. Going home to rest.

(Woman on oxygen) Day 29 waiting for a new heart.

(Woman in cafeteria) 19-year-old son on life support.

(Patient in doctor’s office) Doesn’t completely understand.

(Woman sitting with healthcare provider) Too shocked to comprehend treatment options.

(Man in waiting room) Waiting three hours.

(Woman entering hospital) Husband is terminally ill.

(Child petting dog) Visiting Dad for the last time.

(Child running) Ears all better, finally!

(Patient on crutches and neck brace) Car accident six months ago. Pain won’t go away.

(Man on escalator) Tumor was benign.

(Second man on escalator) Tumor was malignant.

If you could stand in someone else’s shoes, here what they hear, see what they see, feel what they feel, would you treat them differently?

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Although I have seen this video once before, it was just as impactful for me the second time as it was the first. Working in the field of

psychiatric nursing, no patient ends up in my care without some difficult life circumstance. Whether struggling to cope with a loss, being haunted by traumatic events from their past, or being unable to control recurrent psychotic episodes, every patient that I encounter has something going on in their lives. At times, psychiatric patients can be difficult to handle because they may act out behaviorally or with violence. It is important to bear in mind, especially in the moments where a patient is particularly taxing to care for, that there is a reason that we may not know and they are hurting from something whether we know it or not.

The video “The Heart of Compassion” really pulls on my heartstrings. To me, empathy is putting yourself into someone else’s shoes to try to understand what they are going through. Everyone handles situations differently. Some people can become consumed with fear and dread, while others may be completely confused or in denial over medical diagnoses. We as nurses, friends, family members, coworkers etc., all need to be aware of this in order to understand where a person is coming from. The world would be a better place if everyone was more empathetic towards others.

The video “The Heart of Compassion” reminds me of the quote “be kind for everyone is fighting a hard battle.” Empathy is an extremely important part of my nursing practice. Labor and Delivery is generally a very happy place, but there are also extremely hard, unexpected, and traumatic events that take place. Everyone is coming into it with a different story, some people have been trying to have a baby for years, others are surprised to find out they are pregnant and wondering how they are going to make it all work. Others come in thinking it will be the happiest day of their life, only to be in an emergent situation requiring life saving measures. Being empathetic and putting yourself in these patients shoes is the key to being able to understand their point of view and better care for them.

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NUR 601 Week 5 Blog Post 1: Empathy in Interpersonal Relationships