Introduction

Abstract

Most people reading this book will know only too well of the scandal surrounding Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, whereby poor care between 2005 and 2009 reportedly contributed to the avoidable deaths of many patients. The public inquiry which followed cost the taxpayer £13 million, interviewed more than 160 witnesses, sifted through one million pages of evidence and resulted in 290 recommendations contained within a four-volume report that stretched over 1800 pages (Kapur, 2014). Failings were identified at every level including individuals, management, regulators of nursing, the nursing profession and nurse education (Francis, 2013). The inquiry drew on the oral accounts and written witness statements of almost 300 patients and families, before concluding that nurses at the hospital lacked the skills to care and the inherent qualities to do so with compassion. While any criticism of the profession is difficult to accept, failings in compassionate care are particularly concerning, given the defining characteristics of nursing include “to respect the dignity, autonomy and uniqueness of human beings” (RCN, 2003, p. 3). There is no doubt that emphasis needs to be placed on care and compassion in nursing, for these are fundamental values underpinning nursing. In this respect, the public have a right to expect, when admitted to hospital or when receiving nursing care in the community, that they will be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. With that said, there needs also to be an acknowledgement of the contextual factors impacting nursing work, for example perceived autonomy or lack thereof, involvement in decision-making, workload issues, and associated stress and burnout (Wallin, Ewald, Wikblad, Scott-Finley, & Arnetz, 2006). Without such acknowledgement, it is difficult for nurse education to conceptualise nursing in such a way as to ameliorate the factors impacting the ability of nurses to provide high-quality care, and to do so with compassion.