Abstract
To examine how the concept of compassion is socially constructed within UK discourse, in response to recommendations that aspiring nurses gain care experience prior to entering nurse education. Following a report of significant failings in care, the UK government proposed prior care experience for aspiring nurses as a strategy to enhance compassion amongst the profession. Media reporting of this generated substantial online discussion, which formed the data for this research. There is a need to define how compassion is constructed through language as a limited understanding exists, of what compassion means in health care. This is important, for any meaningful evaluation of quality, compassionate practices. A corpus-informed discourse analysis. A 62,626-word corpus of data was analysed using Laurence Anthony software "AntCon", a free corpus analysis toolkit. Frequent words were retrieved and used as a focal point for further analysis. Concordance lines were computed and analysed in the context of which frequent word-types occurred. Patterns of language were revealed and interpreted through researcher immersion. Findings identified that compassion was frequently described in various ways as a natural characteristic attribute. A pattern of language also referred to compassion as something that was not able to be taught, but could be developed through the repetition of behaviours observed in practice learning. In the context of compassion, the word-type "nurse" was used positively. This study adds to important debates highlighting how compassion is constructed and defined in the context of nursing. Compassion is constructed as both an individual, personal trait and a professional behaviour to be learnt. Educational design could include effective interpersonal skills training, which may help enhance and develop compassion from within the nursing profession. Likewise, ways of thinking, behaving and communicating should also be addressed by established practitioners to maintain compassionate interactions between professionals as well as nurse-patient relationships. Future research should focus on how compassionate practice is defined by both health professionals and patients. To maintain nursing as an attractive profession to join, it is important that nurses are viewed as compassionate. This holds implications for professional morale, associated with the continued retention and recruitment of the future workforce. Existing ideologies within the practice placement, the prior care experience environment, as well as the educational and organisational design, are crucial factors to consider, in terms of their influences on the expression of compassion in practice.
Highlights
The past decade has observed reports of major failings in care which have been the focus of media attention the case of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom (UK)
Following the recommendations made by Francis' report, the UK government suggested that prior care experience be a requirement for those wishing to enter nursing, enabling the values and behaviours of care and compassion to be tested (HEE, 2013) prior to joining nursing
This study has shown that compassion is constructed as both an individual, personal trait and a professional behaviour to be learnt
Summary
The past decade has observed reports of major failings in care which have been the focus of media attention the case of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom (UK). Following a report of significant failings in care, the UK government proposed prior care experience for aspiring nurses as a strategy to enhance compassion amongst the profession Media reporting of this generated substantial online discussion, which formed the data for this research. There is a need to define how compassion is constructed through language as a limited understanding exists, of what compassion means in healthcare This is important, for any meaningful evaluation of quality, compassionate practices. Despite compassion being so frequently referenced across a wide range of literature, many definitions are used interchangeably and there is a distinct lack of empirical research in this area (Sinclair et al, 2016) This is important if any sort of meaningful evaluation of professional practice is to take place, in terms of the 'quality' of care provision and the ongoing assessment of student clinicians in placement
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