Compassion in emergency departments. Part 3: enabling and supporting delivery of compassionate care.

In the final part of this three-part series, David Hunter and colleagues analyse the factors that enable and support delivery of compassionate care in emergency departments (EDs). Part one reported findings from doctoral-level research that explored nursing students' experiences of compassionate care in EDs, while part two considered the barriers to such care identified by the students. This article highlights and celebrates the ways in which emergency nurses provide compassionate care despite the challenges they face.

Compassion in emergency departments. Part 2: barriers to the provision of compassionate care.

In the second part of this three-part series, David Hunter and colleagues discuss the barriers to the provision of compassionate care in emergency departments (EDs). Part one reported findings from doctoral-level research exploring nursing students' experiences of compassionate care in EDs. Many of the findings related to what the students considered as barriers to the provision of compassionate care in this clinical environment. Six barriers to compassionate care were identified and this article considers them in detail.

Compassion in emergency departments. Part 1: nursing students' perspectives.

Compassion is a topical issue in clinical nursing practice, nurse education and policy, but a review of the literature reveals that nursing students' experiences of compassionate care receives little attention. In this three-part series David Hunter and colleagues explore compassion in emergency departments (EDs) from nursing students' point of view. Part 1 provides findings of a professional doctorate study of nursing students' experiences of compassionate care in EDs, part 2 explores the barriers to compassionate care in this clinical setting that emerged from the study, and part 3 considers factors that enable and support compassionate care provision in EDs. AIM: The aim of the study was to explore nursing students' experiences of the provision of compassionate care in EDs. METHOD: The underpinning methodology was an exploratory-descriptive qualitative design. A total of 15 nursing students from across the west of Scotland, who had been placed in eight different EDs, participated in face-to-face interviews which were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed. FINDINGS: Two major themes emerged 'doing the little things' and 'a strange, new world: the uniqueness of the ED'. The students also identified barriers and enablers to providing compassionate care which are discussed in parts two and three. CONCLUSION: Despite the challenges of working in the most acute of clinical settings, nurses can provide compassionate care to patients and their relatives. However, this is not universal because certain groups of patients considered 'challenging' do not receive equitable compassionate care.