Your life best friend: the compassion of the automatic benefits

Your life best friend: benefits of Self-compassion Katherine Venditti, RN, BSN, ICU nurse in coronary unit care at a hospital in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., entered a room to offer a cloth to a patient who was normally cheerful. As soon as entered, twisted man?s face and began to shout it. He had been waiting for 30 minutes to wash his face and accused of neglecting it and leaving it there to die. In fact, she had been busy with other patients who had the most urgent needs.

In the past, this incident would have unleashed a flood of self-criticism in the minds of Venditti?s which could last for hours if not days.She might think she took too much with other patients, she could not keep things in order, and it was a nurse mala.En instead, she left the intense pull toward self-judgment and practice what is known as self-compassion.

She recognized anything she could have done differently, he thought of a plan to prevent similar situations in the future and then moved to reconcile with the patient.Both were smiling at the end of the conversation. in essence, she accepted to itself and its limitations as a human being.Although this may seem a simple mental exercise, Venditti recognizes that requires practice and perseverance, but that its practice of nursing benefits are well worth the effort.

?Someone practicing self-compassion is much more effective as a nurse, ?, says ?I have more ideas, I have a clearer mind, I can remember information more quickly, and the risk of making a mistake is significantly decreased. ?

Researchers and educators are discovering that Venditti?s experience is not unique. for nurses, practicing self-compassion not only has the potential to influence the job satisfaction, but also to improve patient care and satisfaction.

Cost of the low automática-compasión
Self-compassion is essentially extending compassion himself to bug one?s, inadequacies and experiences of suffering.Patterns of chronic low self-compassion can have significant effects on people not only psychologically, but also physically, and that what prompted a nurse researcher to begin exploring the correlation between stress levels and self-compassion.

?People with fewer feelings of compassion and more negative towards itself may have higher levels of stress hormones pour into the body, ? says Lois Howland, RN, DPH, associate professor at the school of nursing of Hahn and Sciences of health at the University of San Diego. ?These chronic high levels of stress can create results of ill health, including the lower cognitive function, suppressed immune function and lack of sleep, and this can affect nurse?s capacity to operate in a job. ?

Howland experienced the effects of being hyper self-critical when she was a new nurse. After, she manages the dose wrong of a drug to a patient Pediatric ?Even despite that there was no damage to the patient, I felt terrible, said Howland ?. ?The incident could have been jointly owned by me and the doctor, but had a knot in your stomach and was in tears.I couldn?t out it of my head during días.Me couldn?t be present so that my patients and families because he was distracted as I thought about this again. ? more and more

Tools for Self-compassion
Catherine Kraus, RN, MSN, MA, a specialist training certified compassion fatigue has delivered two days workshops to nurses on how to prevent exhaustion and compassion fatigue, and she believes self-compassion is critical for nurses to have own ?My personal éxito.Sentimiento is can?t give what has the ? don?t, says.?If you don?t have healthy self-compassion, how can be compassionate to patients without developing fatigue, burnout and compassion??

She suggests analysing an incident by approaching to do with self-compassion.For example, a thought like, really I am ashamed ?I, ? could be reformulated, ?The error happened because I have answered a question that could have hoped.Tomorrow, I will let everyone know when I am giving medications and unless there is an emergency situation, do not talk with me until I am finished. ?

Also written can be an effective self-intervention tool because it moves the people on the role of victim and witness role, explains Kraus.Ella suggests writing the incident as the nurse perceives, noting the critical and negative comments then rewrite the incident as he or she would have preferred things be.

Kraus suggests also trying to take ownership of errors. ?If us don?t deal with the error or limitation, then we can still beat ourselves and never gets solves the problem in our minds, ?, said.

Following steps
Mary Heffernan, RN, DNP, head of epidemiology at the North Shore in Manhasset, New York University hospital has published a study in the July edition of the International Journal of nursing practice on the correlation between intelligence self-compassion and emotional. ?I?m always looking for ways to improve patient satisfaction ? Heffernan said. ?When that I have read about the concept of self-compassion, I thought it was important to explore whether lack of self-compassion we holds from being compassionate towards patients. ?

Says the study?s results show the usefulness of identification of nurses who need training in self-compassion and offer ayuda.Este training has not only the potential impact of the nurse in the working environment, but in all areas of life. ?Nurses needs to practice self-compassion for their own mental and emotional health and happiness, ? Kraus says ?If someone is constantly self-critical, they will not be happy people and fighting for something that is unreachable. It?s never too late to develop self-compassion, although it requires work to develop it. ?

Heather Stringer is a freelance writer.

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