International study on nurses' views and experiences of compassion

BACKGROUND: Compassion is considered the cornerstone of nursing practice. However, the recent failures in delivering high-quality compassionate nursing care in the UK's National Health Service have brought the topic of compassion to the attention of the public, service providers, policy makers and academics. AIM: The aim of this study was to explore the nurses' views and experiences of a number of compassion-related issues in nursing and describe similarities and differences at an international level as well as from the different nursing roles of the participating nurses. METHODS: An exploratory, cross-sectional descriptive study, using the International Online Compassion Questionnaire. A total of 1323 nurses from 15 countries completed the questionnaire. RESULTS: The majority of participants (59.5%) defined compassion as "Deep awareness of the suffering of others and wish to alleviate it" but definitions of compassion varied by country. Of participants, 69.6% thought compassion was very important in nursing and more than half (59.6%) of them argued that compassion could be taught. However, only 26.8% reported that the correct amount and level of teaching is provided. The majority of the participants (82.6%) stated that their patients prefer knowledgeable nurses with good interpersonal skills. Only 4.3% noted that they are receiving compassion from their managers. A significant relationship was found between nurses' experiences of compassion and their views about teaching of compassion. CONCLUSION: Our study is unique in identifying the views and experiences of nurses from 15 different countries worldwide. The findings reveal that compassion is neither addressed adequately in nursing education nor supported in the practice environment by managers. LIMITATIONS: Self-report bias was inherent to our survey study design. Furthermore, the individual cultural differences and similarities in the findings are difficult to extrapolate owing to the fact that our analysis was at country level, as well as at the level of the participating nurses. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING POLICY: Understanding the influence of culture on nurses' views about compassion is critical in the current multicultural healthcare environment and merits further research. This will potentially drive changes in nursing education (ensuring that compassion is taught to nurses) and in the way healthcare leaders and managers foster a compassionate culture within their organizations (e.g. by leading by example and compassionate to their staff). © 2016 International Council of Nurses

Breaking rules for the right reasons? An investigation of pro‐social rule breaking

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89492/1/job730.pd

Spirals of Spirituality: A Qualitative Study Exploring Dynamic Patterns of Spirituality in Turkish Organizations

This paper explores organizational spirituality, uncovers it as spiralling dynamics of both positive and negative potentialities, and proposes how leaders can shape these dynamics to improve the human conditions at the workplace. Based on case study of five Turkish organizations and drawing on the emerging discourse on spirituality in organizations literature, this study provides a deeper understanding of how dynamic patterns of spirituality operate in organizations. Insights from participant observation, organizational data, and semi-structured interviews yield three key themes of organizational spirituality: reflexivity, connectivity, and responsibility. Each of these themes has been found to be connected to upward spirals (inspiration, engagement, and calling) and downward spirals (incivility, silence, and fatigue). The study provides a detailed and holistic account of the individual and organizational processes through which spirituality is enacted both positively and negatively, exploring its dynamic and dualistic nature, as embodied in the fabric of everyday life and culture

Dancing the cliff edge: The place of courage in social life.

This project takes a new look at courage, engaging psychology, poetry, philosophy, sociology, and the social sciences generally to enhance our understanding of one of humanity's most basic virtues. The basic premise of this work is that a new image of courage, one that can capture in the phenomenon a variety of feelings as well as a logic of appraisal, must not take the individual as its starting point. Working inductively from myriad images of courage, the project builds a new theory of courage as a form of social life. As such, courage is triggered by felt duress to the whole, and takes shape in the constructive opposition of individual life to social involvement. Duress tends toward two familiar poles: the first, visible in images of corporate corruption, is runaway individualism that masquerades as heroism but ultimately self-destructs. The second, visible in the famous image from the 1989 uprising in Tiananmen Square, is an overbearing and oppressive formal structure in which social life is not allowed dynamic movement. Courageous action arises from such duress when people in a position to act draw upon their capacity for individuated action to constructively oppose threats to collective life. The project tests this new understanding of courage by extensive analysis of over 600 stories of courage from knowledge workers. Findings illustrate that thee basic elements of this theory are necessary elements in courage stories. Findings also show that courage is more prevalent in work organizations than social scientists have acknowledged, and that the experience of courage at work is related to felt beauty, vitality, and inspiration that changes people's sense of what is possible and opens the door for change. Through a variety of images from visual to poetic to statistical, this project makes the case that a poetic social science, one that draws upon juxtapositions of multiple images, is better able to illuminate concepts basic to social life. Through its structure, its method, and its argument, this work attempts to elucidate such a poetic social science that is capable of embracing and illuminating something as mysterious as courage in social life.Ph.D.Labor relationsPsychologySocial SciencesSocial researchUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/124216/2/3122074.pd

Mary Elaine (Fischer) Worline Collection

A homemade plaque from 1938; three photographs of Strasburg, ND citizens in the early 1900s; and twenty-two theology books dating from 1893 to 1930.A homemade plaque from 1938; three photographs of Strasburg, ND citizens in the early 1900s; and twenty-two theology books dating from 1893 to 1930

[2012.06.02] Portrait of Stephina, Jake, and Mary Lauinger

Photographic postcard. Black and white. Image of two women in front and sitting down and a man stands behind them. The women are wearing matching dresses and have the same crucifix necklace. The woman to the right has darker hair and is wearing glasses. The man is wearing a suit. On the back of the postcard is inscribed: “Stephina and Mary (front) and Jake Lauinger.” Identified as Stephina, Jake, and Mary Lauinger. Image taken in Strasburg, North Dakota. Circa early 1900s. Courtesy of Mary Elaine (Fischer) Worline Collection, 2012.06, GRHC.Photographic postcard. Black and white. Image of two women in front and sitting down and a man stands behind them. The women are wearing matching dresses and have the same crucifix necklace. The woman to the right has darker hair and is wearing glasses. The man is wearing a suit. On the back of the postcard is inscribed: “Stephina and Mary (front) and Jake Lauinger.” Identified as Stephina, Jake, and Mary Lauinger. Image taken in Strasburg, North Dakota. Circa early 1900s. Courtesy of Mary Elaine (Fischer) Worline Collection, 2012.06, GRHC

[2012.06.04] Portrait of two unidentified women

Photographic postcard. Black and white. Image of two women sitting on chairs and wearing matching outfits. The woman on the left appears to be older. Inscribed on the back: “Sr. Mary Rita ‘Ursuline’. Ottilia Wagner and Elizabeth Mitzel. Sr. M. Ursula, O.S.B.” Image taken in Strasburg, North Dakota. Circa early 1900s. Courtesy of Mary Elaine (Fischer) Worline Collection, 2012.06, GRHC.Photographic postcard. Black and white. Image of two women sitting on chairs and wearing matching outfits. The woman on the left appears to be older. Inscribed on the back: “Sr. Mary Rita ‘Ursuline’. Ottilia Wagner and Elizabeth Mitzel. Sr. M. Ursula, O.S.B.” Image taken in Strasburg, North Dakota. Circa early 1900s. Courtesy of Mary Elaine (Fischer) Worline Collection, 2012.06, GRHC

[2012.06.03] Image of Mary Keller, Katie Bauman, Eva Baumgartner, Cecilia Bauman, and Rose Fischer

Studio print. Black and white. Image of five women wearing dresses. The woman on the right is wearing a crucifix necklace and glasses. Identified as Mary Keller, Katie Bauman, Eva Baumgartner, Cecilia Bauman, and Rose Fischer. Image taken in Strasburg, North Dakota. Circa early 1900s. Courtesy of Mary Elaine (Fischer) Worline Collection, 2012.06, GRHC.Photographic postcard. Black and white. Studio print. Black and white. Image of five women wearing dresses. The woman on the right is wearing a crucifix necklace and glasses. Identified as Mary Keller, Katie Bauman, Eva Baumgartner, Cecilia Bauman, and Rose Fischer. Image taken in Strasburg, North Dakota. Circa early 1900s. Courtesy of Mary Elaine (Fischer) Worline Collection, 2012.06, GRHC