Infusing, sustaining, and replenishing compassion in health care organizations through compassion practices

Abstract

Background Human suffering is prevalent and costly in health care organizations. Recent research links the use of compassion practices with improved patient experience and employee well-being, but little is known about how these practices create and sustain compassion to address workplace suffering and enhance care quality. Purpose This study examines the dynamics of compassion practices, specifically how compassion practices create and sustain compassion in caregiving work. Methodology We conducted a qualitative field study at two acute care hospitals utilizing three forms of data collection: semistructured interviews, nonparticipant observation, and archival data. Data were analyzed utilizing thematic coding. Results Both organizations attempted to foster workplace compassion through their hiring, socialization, employee support, and rewards practices. Conclusion Organizations enable compassion through common organizational practices that perform three functions: (a) infusing the organization with new members and resources to enact compassion, (b) sustaining compassion by reinforcing its appropriateness in the workplace, and (c) replenishing compassion resources by improving and restoring employee well-being and ability to provide high-quality compassionate care. Practice Implications This study provides managers with a detailed guide for how health care organizations use compassion practices as a managerial tool to address two key challenges: (a) high rates of employee ill-being due to the demanding nature of the work and (b) providing high-quality compassionate care.

Whose experience is it anyway? Toward a constructive engagement of tensions in patient-centered health care

“…Care providers, by definition, give of themselves emotionally while providing care (Kahn, 1993). A strong therapeutic alliance with patients necessitates empathy and compassion, defined as “a response to suffering, involving noticing, empathetic concern, and responding, in an attempt to help another” (McClelland and Vogus, 2019, p. 2), which also often requires emotional labor (Cricco-Lizza, 2014). Indeed, lack of emotional support is a key complaint of patients, and emotional support has been shown to be a key predictor of patient satisfaction (Gerteis et al , 1993; Rathert et al , 2015).…”

“…In fact, emotional exhaustion is a major component of burnout and is predictive of negative outcomes such as poorer care delivery, substance abuse and even suicide (Williams et al , 2019). Thus, work environments that offer compassionate support for care providers support patients by replenishing emotional resources for care providers (McClelland and Vogus, 2019). Best practices include rewarding employees for showing compassion to co-workers or providing specific resources to employees who are experiencing stress or suffering, such as pastoral care (McClelland et al , 2018; McClelland and Vogus, 2014).…”

“…In addition, there are structural features in the organization that can be audited to ensure support for compassion. For example, McClelland and Vogus (2019) identified specific attributes that can be enhanced to infuse the organization with compassion practices (e.g. screening job applicants for fit with organizational values), sustain existing practices (e.g.…”

“…Healthcare work is demanding, focused primarily on alleviating the suffering of injured and ill patients (McClelland and Vogus, 2019). Across the globe, these challenges are exacerbated, as a significant change is underway in health care.…”

The role of service firms in societal health: the case for symbiotic value

“…Supporting and assisting team members to adjust and manage difficult situations emotionally is part of many service organizations' commitment to its employees and, in turn, to society. Healthcare firms frequently deploy these practices through the use of employee assistance programs and compassion practices like “Code Lavenders” that function as rapid response systems to help employees deal with the emotionally difficult aspects of service work (McClelland and Vogus, 2014, 2019).…”