Compassionate Care Skills Among Healthcare Workers During Emerging And Re-Emerging Diseases
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65166/bt5ppj56Keywords:
compassionate care, empathy; communication, ethical practice; teamwork, compassion fatigue, healthcare workersAbstract
Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases create profound emotional, ethical, and operational challenges for healthcare workers, particularly in resource-constrained settings where technical demands may overshadow compassionate practice. This concurrent mixed-methods study examined compassionate care skills among healthcare workers during infectious disease outbreaks in the Philippines, integrating quantitative assessment of self-reported competencies with qualitative exploration of lived experiences. The quantitative component surveyed 80 healthcare workers (nurses, physicians, medical technologists, and midwives) across acute care and community health settings using a pilot-tested questionnaire assessing empathy and emotional understanding, communication and patient interaction, ethical and professional conduct, and supportive behavior and teamwork. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 purposively selected participants and analyzed using thematic analysis. Quantitative findings indicated that compassionate care behaviors were reported as practiced often across domains (composite mean = 4.00/5.00), with communication and patient interaction and ethical and professional conduct rated highest (both 4.04) and empathy and emotional understanding rated lowest (3.94). Scores differed significantly by sex and age across domains, and by years of experience for communication, ethical conduct, and teamwork; supportive behavior and teamwork also differed by professional role. Participants also strongly endorsed workload, limited institutional psychosocial support, and fatigue as constraints on sustained compassionate practice. Qualitative analysis yielded five interconnected themes: empathy and emotional understanding (including “silent anxiety” and uninterrupted listening); communication and patient interaction (simplifying complex information and encouraging dialogue); ethical and professional conduct (upholding principles and maintaining boundaries); supportive behavior and teamwork (peer support and collaborative coordination); and navigating compassion through experience, fatigue, and moral resilience. Findings suggest that Filipino healthcare workers demonstrate deliberate compassionate practice during outbreak conditions, while underscoring the need for structural supports—including staffing reinforcement, psychological support, and targeted training and mentorship for novice practitioners—to sustain compassionate care in future health emergencies.
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