Abstract
During the autumn of 2015, 21 Schwartz Rounds were held in England and Wales with the same topic: what makes a compassionate relationship between caregiver and patient? Participants explored themes such as the nature of compassion; what makes compassion difficult, and how to be compassionate, and the discussion within these themes and others are summarised. Many examples of compassionate behaviour provided by participants in the Rounds bear out concepts of compassion found in the academic literature. It is clear that providing consistent compassionate care is challenging. Caregivers discussed what enables compassion and emphasised the importance of the nature of the relationship with their colleagues, as well as with their patients.
Highlights
What are Schwartz Rounds? Schwartz Rounds (Rounds) provide a structured forum where all staff, clinical and non-clinical, come together regularly to discuss the emotional and social aspects of working in healthcare
It is clear that providing consistent compassionate care is challenging
We thought it would be a good opportunity to explore the nature of compassion and what it means in practice, through conversations amongst people who are thinking about this every month in their Schwartz Rounds
Summary
What are Schwartz Rounds? Schwartz Rounds (Rounds) provide a structured forum where all staff, clinical and non-clinical, come together regularly to discuss the emotional and social aspects of working in healthcare. Started by the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, the Point of Care Foundation holds the license in the UK and supports healthcare organisations to introduce and sustain Rounds here. They are hour-long meetings, held monthly with food provided. Ten years later with over 130 organisations running Rounds in this country, we (The Point of Care Foundation) wanted to mark the anniversary by repeating the exercise in the UK This was not a research project but rather a Goodrich Journal of Compassionate Health Care (2016) 3:8 chance to record a ‘national conversation’ about compassion.
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