developing, creating and cultivating environments that foster compassionate care for self and others may play a significant role in helping midwives face the rigours of education and clinical practice during their degree programme.

High levels of self-compassion were linked with lower levels of burnout. Furthermore when community nurses have greater compassion satisfaction they also report more compassion for others, increased wellbeing, and less burnout. The implications of this are discussed alongside suggestions for the promotion of greater compassion.

Background Prolonged deficiency in self‐care strategies puts counsellors and psychotherapists at risk of burnout and compassion fatigue. Aim To measure associations between self‐compassion, compassion fatigue, well‐being and burnout in student counsellors and student cognitive behavioural psychotherapists. Method A quantitative survey using four validated data collection instruments: (1) Professional Quality of Life Scale; (2) Self‐Compassion Scale; (3) short Warwick and Edinburgh Mental Well‐being Scale; (4) Compassion For Others scale, was used to measure relationships between self‐compassion, compassion fatigue, well‐being and burnout. Participants A mixed sample of student counsellors and student cognitive behavioural psychotherapists (n = 54) in their final year of study. Results This preliminary study shows that student counsellors and student cognitive behavioural psychotherapists who reported high on measures of self‐compassion and well‐being also reported less compassion fatigue and burnout. Implications for practice Compassion fatigue and burnout are found in many modern‐day, highly stressful healthcare professions. The practice of self‐compassion could help student practitioners manage these symptoms and subsequently improve their professional quality of life.

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Aims To explore stakeholder perspectives of compassion in nursing. Background Studies show that nurses’ compassion can be characterized by 11 characteristics. A growing body of research illustrates how courses aimed at teaching nursing students about compassion can be effective. Including the views of key stakeholders in the design of these programmes is recommended, yet the number of studies that have explored this are limited. Design This study used a qualitative exploratory design, applying a directed content and thematic analysis to the data. Methods Key stakeholders (N = 34), including nurse educators, nursing students, registered nurses and service user/patients, were recruited between September 2016 ‐ July 2017. Focus groups and semi‐structured one‐to‐one interviews were conducted. Data were transcribed verbatim. Directed content analysis and thematic analysis were applied to transcripts to address two separate research questions. Results In relation to question 1, ‘What are the characteristics of a compassionate nurse’? eight themes: (a) character; (b) self‐care; (c) connection; (d) empathy; (e) interpersonal skills; (f) communication; (g) competence; and (h) engagement, emerged from the content analysis. For question 2, ‘How can compassion be taught to nursing students’? there were five separate themes that emerged from the thematic analysis: (a) beliefs about teaching compassion; (b) motivation; (c) the 5 W’s needed to teach compassion to nursing students; (d) barriers to compassion in practice;  and (e) compassion requires strength Conclusion The findings of this research support previous research into compassion in nursing. The Compassion Strengths model may serve as a framework for nursing students and nurses’ compassionate practice. This may also assist nurses internationally to develop further research in this vital area.