title: International study on nurses' views and experiences of compassion.
abstract: 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.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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).
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Transcultural Studies in Health, Middlesex University, London, UK.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Papadopoulos
authors.affiliation: Middlesex University, London, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zorba
authors.affiliation: Research and Innovation Department, Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Worthing, UK.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Koulouglioti
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Transcultural Studies in Health, Middlesex University, London, UK.
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authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Walden University, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
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authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aagard
authors.affiliation: Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: O
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authors.lastname: Akman
authors.affiliation: Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital/Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: L-M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Alpers
authors.affiliation: National and Kapodistrian Univeristy of Athens, Athens, Greece.
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authors.lastname: Apostolara
authors.affiliation: Charles Sturt University, Abury, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Biles
authors.affiliation: Centro de San Blas, Servicio Madrileño de Salud, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Á
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Martín-García
authors.affiliation: Nursing Section Department, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: González-Gil
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kouta
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Havlíčkův Brod, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krepinska
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Centre for Minority Health Research, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: B N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Pomeranian University of Słupsk, Slupsk, Poland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lesińska-Sawicka
authors.affiliation: Universidad Nacional de Colombia - Bogotá - Facultad de Enfermería., Colombia.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.affiliation: Technological Institution of Thessaly, Larisa, Greece.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malliarou
authors.affiliation: Rzeszow University, Rzeszow, Poland.
authors.forename: M
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authors.lastname: Nagórska
authors.affiliation: Wolfson Academic Nursing School, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nissim
authors.affiliation: Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nortvedt
authors.affiliation: Nursing Section Department, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oter-Quintana
authors.affiliation: Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ozturk
authors.affiliation: Bataan Peninsula State University, Balanga, Philippines.
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Pangilinan
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Papp
authors.affiliation: The Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, Yezreel Valley, Israel.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Eldar Regev
authors.affiliation: Bataan Peninsula State University, Balanga, Philippines.
authors.forename: F O
authors.initials: FO
authors.lastname: Rubiano
authors.affiliation: Local Health Authority, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: M Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Tolentino Diaz
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health and Social Studies, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tóthová
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vasiliou
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004506:Education, Nursing; D004645:Empathy; D006801:Humans; D024802:Nurse's Role; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Compassion; Culture; International; Nurses’ Views; Nursing Online Survey; Quantitative