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compassion

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Above and beyond bed bath

The first time I heard “It’s not in my job description” invoked was during an interaction with a colleague in my very early days as an RN. Although…

Acts of kindness

Many of us have lasting memories of a few special patients. For me, Joe is one of those patients. The day he was admitted, Joe was one of…
elderly couple song together

And the music plays on…

In the mid-1970s, I was a graduate nurse starting my career at a large, urban hospital. One of my patients, an elderly man named Eddie, had just been…

Being with Dying

Your most powerful message has nothing to do with words.

Beyond customer service

Many nurses don’t like to hear their patients called “customers” or be told to provide “customer service.” This expert explains how to lose the lingo and adapt the…
dog sick caring best friend

Caring for my best friend

Like many of my colleagues, I became a nurse because of my desire to help people. I wanted to relieve suffering, offer comfort, and restore health. I wanted…

Caring under pressure

Compassion is an essential ingredient for great nursing. Without compassion, you might as well come up with another word for nurse. Recently, I visited a local emergency department…

Compassion holds everything together

Despite our physical separation from each other, we’re still all connected and react to what happens to each other. Compassion is the unifying force that holds it all…
compassion nurse virtue

Compassion: A nurse’s primary virtue

Strengthening compassion may help you avoid burnout. Nurses, we’re told, are fundamentally compassionate people. In fact, nurse burnout could be defined as the loss of compassion. So, it…
crib iron bedside nurse care

From our readers…At the Bedside

As my parents were approaching the age of downsizing their earthly possessions, I became the recipient of the generational family crib. It was the wrought iron crib that…
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From the Ethics Box: Right to Try

My patient is terminally ill. There may be a treatment, but it isn’t FDA approved. Do patients have a right to try investigational treatments, and what are the…
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Gifts that keep on giving

December turns our hearts and minds to the holiday season. We juggle work time and family demands to prepare for holiday celebrations. We reflect on the diversity of…
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Health, safety, & wellness

Nursing is a rewarding profession based on caring, giving, helping, and educating. It involves caring for others, from beautiful newborns to pain-wracked hospice patients. It involves giving of…

Helping hands of nurses

In the Army I learned what it meant to never give up as well as what it meant to succeed. I quickly mastered my mind and body to…

How to deliver bad news

Healthcare providers often must give bad news to patients and families. Doing this in a direct, concise, compassionate way is a skill that equired practice.
Leading with kindness in nursing

Leading with kindness

As this nurse leader explains, communicating with compassion is always the best option. Interview by Apryl Motley “Be kind whenever possible, and it is always possible.” For Rose Constantino,…
nurses mindful listening nursing

Mindful Listening

Tip 4 of 6 Mindfulness Exercises You Can Try Today This exercise is designed to open your ears to sound in a non-judgmental way, and indeed to train…

Nurses caring and sharing

From the U.S. to Uganda, in sleek American hospitals and makeshift Afghan clinics, nurses give of themselves to transform lives. Compelled by a deep passion to aid people…

Parting gifts

Our time in this life is perhaps the most important gift we enjoy.
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Reflections on the heart of nursing

In 1995, I toured the Florence Nightingale Museum in London. On the walls were letters that chronicled a lifetime of dedication, spent caring for others—letters that were preserved…
schwartz rounds self-care

Schwartz Rounds: Self-care at its finest

Schwartz Rounds® provide a structured forum for members of the interprofessional healthcare team (clinical and nonclinical) to share their vulnerability and openly discuss their feelings about working in…
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Silence and Solace

“We think she’s gone,” he said. It was 6:20 p.m. I was walking down the hall on the med-surg unit, and turned to face a middle-aged man with…

Take the chance

Jeannine Rivet’s legacy developed one leap of faith at a time. This content is for Digital Access and Print Plus subscribers only. Subscribe Now or Login Already a…
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The little things we do

In December 2001, the graduating class of New York University’s College of Nursing asked me to give a speech during their pinning ceremony. As part of nursing education,…
The Maslow effect: A humanist legacy for nursing

The Maslow effect: A humanist legacy for nursing

In the late 1960s, psychologist Abraham Maslow was moved by the kindness of the nurses and nursing students he encountered when hospitalized for heart disease. Curious about why…

Touch of kindness

Helping a little victim of sexual assault brings a profound realization.
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What to expect from correctional nursing

Takeaways: Correctional nursing is a growing specialty that’s evolving to meet the needs of incarcerated populations in a variety of settings. People who are incarcerated need compassionate nurses…

When the culture of compassion fails in nursing

Is it incivility, horizontal violence, bullying, ageism, policy failure or racism? It’s difficult to comprehend the lack of compassion and humanness from one nurse to another. It happened…

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