An exploration of the 6Cs as a set of values for nursing practice

Abstract

In 2012, after several high profile cases of poor quality care in England and concerns about a lack of compassion and a need to refocus on values, the Department of Health (DH) in England published a new strategy for nursing, midwifery and care staff: 'Compassion in practice'. The strategy included the 6Cs (care, compassion, courage, communication, competence and commitment) and in the follow-on framework, produced by NHS England in 2016, the 6Cs are included again. This article explains the background to the 6Cs and highlights the other values frameworks that nurses and midwives must work within too. Nursing theorists have studied caring extensively and the earlier set of 6Cs, produced by a Canadian nurse, Sister Simone Roach, is explained within this article. The meaning of the DH's 6Cs is then explored in detail with reference to previous research and nursing theory.

Response to ‘Values of Integrated Care: A Systematic Review’ by Nick Zonneveld et al

“…First, some concerns about conducting a systematic review of values in publications. There are, of course, studies that analyse the notion of values in research and practice [2345]. These analyses aim to exhibit the deeper political, socio-economic or epistemic structures that steer us in our studies or practical implementations of policy.…”

A process evaluation of the first year of Leading Change, Adding Value

“…This supports frontline staff to consider the outcomes of their work and question whether there is always a measurable positive difference achieved in experience, outcomes and the use of resources. Indeed, it has been recognised that the 6Cs which underpinned Compassion in Practice have been embedded as the value base of LCAV (Baille, 2017). LCAV is seen as enhancing rather than adding to workloads, which is an important distinction when striving to support frontline staff in their roles.…”

“…LCAV featured in several journal editorials introducing the framework as well as considering its potential impact (Blakemore, 2016;Brown, 2016;Scott, 2016;Stephen-Haynes, 2016). The importance of the 6Cs within Compassion in Practice has been recognised as a continued basis for the values base of LCAV (Barchard et al, 2017;Baille, 2017); where work is driven and led by the frontline (NHS England, 2017b).…”

What's in this Special Issue

“…Furthermore, the paper uses the concept of safe uncertainty to remind critical care practitioners that they need to go “beyond conventional treatment to provide high‐quality care”, (p.236) Indeed, the very challenging nature of transferring critically and terminally ill patients home to die is a quintessential example of patient advocacy and dignity in care, in this case by safeguarding the patient's preferred place of death. Whilst depicting the elements of this complex intervention, this case study clearly illustrates how the values of compassion, commitment, communication, competence and, perhaps most predominantly, courage can realistically be put into practice and underscores their current relevance, not just to nursing from where they originated but to all health professions . We learn how individual choice at the end of life was made possible through interprofessional teamwork and commitment to these concepts.…”