Abstract
The phenomenon of interest in this study was the nurse's experience of compassion. Nurses derive their professional purpose in serving society. Society expects a nurse to possess the attribute of compassion, but it is unclear what this experience is. The profession can be accountable to society only after a useful understanding of compassion has been discovered. This study undertook to converse with nurses about their experience to understand the concept of compassion. The phenomenon of compassion is a "lived experience" that can only be described by the person who has experienced it. Phenomenology is a method that seeks to understand the experience of the person. Interviews were conducted with nine nurses who have experienced compassion in the practice setting. Phenomenological analysis of the interviews along with stories of compassion from nursing literature revealed the essential themes of compassion. The essential themes of the nurse's experience of compassion are: human involvement, encompassing emotion, benevolent intention, and extraordinary generosity. The phenomenological description of compassion is: The nurse becomes involved with the patient through recognition of shared humanity and understanding of the patient's need. Nurse, patient, and landscape are encompassed in the situation resulting in the nurse's deep emotions. The nurse suffers with the patient and has the intention to improve the patient's situation. The activity to improve the patient's situation involves extraordinary generosity of self, time, or actions. This study provides an understanding of nurses' compassion which can guide nurses as they seek to meet the social mandate for nursing as well as promote the well-being of patients and themselves.
Sigma Membership
Upsilon Upsilon, Zeta Iota
Type
Dissertation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Phenomenology
Research Approach
Qualitative Research
Keywords:
Compassion in Nurses, Life of Service, Lived Experiences
Advisor
Lynn D. Rew
Degree
PhD
Degree Grantor
The University of Texas at Austin
Degree Year
1996
Recommended Citation
Morgan, Lindsay Lake, "Nurses' experience of compassion" (2020). Dissertations. 1382.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/dissertations/1382
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.
All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
None: Degree-based Submission
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2020-07-24
Full Text of Presentation
wf_yes
Description
This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 9633241; ProQuest document ID: 304282643. The author still retains copyright.