G.R.A.C.E. for nurses: Cultivating compassion in nurse/patient interactions

Abstract

The practice of nursing is grounded in clinical competence, but it is also deeply embedded in the experience of relationship and the cultivation and expression of compassion. In the world of Western medicine, however, nurses can suffer profound challenges to compassionate practice. A deficit of compassion might be relevant to the nursing experience, affecting nurse well-being, patient and family satisfaction, frequency of nursing errors, and the retention of nurses in their vocation.