Empathic Care of Neonates: A Critical Literature Review

Area of Science:

• Neonatal Medicine
• Medical Education
• Healthcare Communication

Background:

• Clinical empathy is a multidimensional construct vital for patient care.
• Empathy in neonatal care is linked to communication, ethics, and palliative care.
• Previous research has explored empathy's role in situations involving neonate pain, suffering, and death.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically review the literature on clinical empathy in neonatal care.
• To analyze keyword co-occurrences in the last decade to identify research trends.
• To highlight gaps in research and suggest future directions for empathy measurement and education.

Main Methods:

• Critical literature review of 2 databases.
• Qualitative synthesis of 9 selected articles.
• Keyword co-occurrence analysis over the past 10 years.

Main Results:

• Nine articles were included, revealing an interconnection between empathy, communication, ethics, and palliative care.
• Empathy was examined in contexts of neonate pain, death, and suffering, particularly in critically ill infants.
• Strategies like self-reflection and digital storytelling show potential for enhancing empathy education.

Conclusions:

• There are significant gaps in measuring clinical empathy in neonatal care, necessitating further research and encouragement of measurement.
• Improving empathy education for health professionals, especially physicians, is crucial for transforming care practices.
• Enhanced clinical empathy benefits patients, parents, health professionals, and medical students in the neonatal setting.