An Introduction to Compassion in Healthcare Practice

Explore the concept of compassion as it applies to the field of healthcare and improving patient outcomes

An Introduction to Compassion in Healthcare Practice identifies the core components of being compassionate and self-compassionate, so that we may be in a better position to attend to our health and to engage in helping others. The foundation of this book is that if we have an intention to help, we are best served by understanding what ‘helping’ really means. This is addressed by reviewing compassion in a range of contexts and environments, including through an evolutionary science perspective. In this view, we are ‘programmed’ to be compassionate—but social forces may throw challenges or obstacles in our way. Also covered in this text are the challenges associated with being compassionate to the self, as well as care encounters with individuals in a clinical context and working in a clinical team.

Some of the ideas explored in An Introduction to Compassion in Healthcare Practice include:

• Artificial intelligence (AI) and compassion, covering ethical theories for AI alongside considerations surrounding consent and the role of touch
• The role of mindfulness in self-compassion, the challenges and benefits of self-compassion, perfectionism, our “inner critic”, and shame
• Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) in teamwork, lessons in developing compassionate teams, and the theory of Values-Based Practice
• Components of compassion-focused leadership and supervision, and the development of self-efficacy and competence

Providing a core conceptual framework for compassion in healthcare with guidance on how to explore various topics in greater depth, An Introduction to Compassion in Healthcare Practice is an essential reference for undergraduate nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, medical practitioners, and students in related programs of study.