Being treated with compassion by nursing students in their baccalaureate program

Compassion is an essential component of nursing education. Having nursing students describe situations in which they were treated with compassion may offer guidance for faculty. The purpose of the study was to uncover themes in descriptions of undergraduate nursing students who described self as being treated with compassion during their Baccalaureate nursing education.

Conventional content analysis was the method used in the study.

Four themes represent the findings. These are: 1) compassion began in situations where students were lost, confused, frightened, and discouraged; 2) emerged in a relationship focused on being recognized, valued, and understood; 3) developed with the other taking charge, listening carefully, remaining patient, and maintaining presence; and 4) ended with feelings of success, comfort, and belonging.

The findings offer a description of compassion from the students' point of view. An approach for teaching compassion based on the study findings is proposed.