[This is a critical reflection discussion post that I shared on my NURS608 Philosophy and Critical Foundations in Nursing course recently. It is a moment that I experience early in my nursing journey and one that I have often looked back on. I hope this entry provides a look into the kind of nurse and person I want to be for those who are under my care.]

I was placed in a Nursing Home during the Fall semester of my 4th year. I was assigned an elderly female resident with a history of dementia and tasked with handling her ADLs and nursing care under my preceptor’s guidance and supervision. Staff had told me that she had one son but that no one visited her. While I was taking care of her in her room, I saw that her bulletin board only had one card and it was a birthday card from the nursing home staff. I felt overwhelmed with emotion and had to step out of her room to cry. I imagined my parents or grandparents and how they’d feel. I felt loneliness and sadness overcome me. I knew at that moment when I cried that my emotions can compromise patient safety and asked my preceptor if she can take over the resident’s care so I can be excused for a moment.

I value patient safety and I felt that crying brought me to an emotional place that compromised my judgement and therefore the decisions I make. This would have placed the safety of my patient at risk. I realized that there was another side to empathy, like a double-sided mirror as described by Kesbakhi & Rohani (2019). Although there is the benefit effects of psychological satisfaction, it can cause negative effects like burnout, fatigue, and anxiety (Kesbakhi & Rohani, 2019). It became important for me to safeguard my emotional wellbeing not only for my patient’s safety but also for my own. Compassion fatigue or burnout is a common issue in nursing and that the ability to self-regulate emotions during empathic interactions can decrease the risk of burnout (Hunt, Denieffe, & Gooney, 2017). Being able to self-regulate during empathic interactions is personal and is still something I try to be mindful about. 

This experience certainly didn’t deter me from bringing empathy and compassion into my practice - in fact, it guides my practice. I continue to connect with the patients and family that are in my care while trying to keep a healthy and professional distance. I naturally am empathetic towards the vulnerable and have learned that empathy bridges the gap between medicine and humanity because it adds an element of unconditional and excellent care that upholds the respect and dignity of a person.

References

Hunt, P.A., Denieffe, S., & Gooney, M. (2017) Burnout and its relationship to empathy in nursing: a review of the literature. J Res Nurs 22(1-2), 7–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/1744987116678902 

Kasbakhi, M.S., & Rohani, C. (2020). Exploring oncology nurses’ perception of the consequences of clinical empathy in patients and nurses: a qualitative study. Support Care Cancer 28(6): 2985-2993. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-05118-z