Empathy In Nursing

Empathy is undoubtedly a massive factor in healthcare, but its pertinence to healthcare and many of its consequences have been subject to controversy. Affective and cognitive empathy were found to be the main components of empathy where each component led to certain patient outcomes (Kim 2004). Anna Smajdor et al. found flaws in affective empathy when faced with the need of physician objectivism, but Sung Soo Kim et al. saw the possibilities of physician affection on patient outcomes. Blane and Meyer can attest to Marcysiak et al.’s suggestion that empathy is a positive factor on nurse well-being while Joana Duarte et al.’s nurse study opposes empathy in the place of self-compassion. Essentially, the debate argues: what can result from empathy
Blane and Meyer, Smajdor and others, and Marcysiak et al. all advocate empathy to be taught in either medical or nursing school curriculum. Of course, with Duarte and others, self-compassion should be supported, but the use of training should be in nursing school where Marcysiak et al. also agrees. In the voice of Smajdor et al., these four sources agree that each concept should be learned through “humanities and soft skills” along with communication skills (Smajdor 2011, 380). Kim et al. are the only authors that believe hospitals should “adopt a program” instead of teaching medical students (Kim 2004, 248). Each source stands firm with their beliefs and offers a solution to create a positive result, yet all sources offer some opportunity for criticism. This shows that each author has done justice to the argument and contributes in good will to the
So far, Empathy is seen to cause patient satisfaction and compliance (Kim). So perhaps the real solution to improving the healthcare field is empathy, or perhaps it is a “thinner” version that is more suitable (Smajdor); yet maybe it is something that is found within oneself (Duarte; self-compassion), or it could even be a concept much bigger than empathy itself (Smajdor; objectivism). In the end, as long as healthcare is operated by humans, empathy of every possible aspect will always