Notes On... Caring (eBook)

David Stanley, NursD, has been a nurse and midwife for over 42 years and is recently retired. He has published widely on clinical leadership, the challenges faced by men in nursing, and the importance of values in the nursing and medical professions. He now writes fiction and poetry.

Preface ix

Acknowledgements xi

About the Author xiii

About the Notes On ... Series xv

1 Introduction 1

1.1 About This Book 1

2 What Is Caring? 5

2.1 Introduction 5

2.2 Defining Care 5

2.3 Theories of Care 9

2.4 Summary 14

3 Professional Caring 17

3.1 Introduction 17

3.2 Types of Care 18

3.3 Summary 24

4 The Attributes (or Ingredients) of Transformational Care 25

4.1 Introduction 25

4.2 The Seven Cs + 25

4.3 Ingredients/Attributes of Transformational Care 27

4.4 Summary 51

5 Understanding the Context of Care 53

5.1 Introduction 53

5.2 Nurses, Other Health Professionals, and Caring 54

5.3 So, Why Did You Want to become a Nurse or Health Professional? 54

5.4 So, What Is Important to You? 55

5.5 Contributors to the Challenge 56

5.6 Summary 63

6 The Therapeutic Relationship: The Key to Professional Care 65

6.1 Introduction 65

6.2 The Therapeutic Relationship: Defined 65

6.3 Characteristics: What Constitutes a Therapeutic Relationship? 67

6.4 The Zone of Helpfulness 70

6.5 Phases of a Therapeutic Relationship (Building the Bridge) 74

6.6 Summary 76

7 Compassion, Empathy, and Sympathy 79

7.1 Introduction 79

7.2 Compassion 79

7.3 Compassion Fatigue 80

7.4 Compassionate Leadership 81

7.5 Congruent Leadership 84

7.6 Empathy 86

7.7 Sympathy 87

7.8 Summary 89

8 Who Cares? -- Self-Care/Self-Compassion -- When the Oxygen Masks Fall! 91

8.1 Introduction 91

8.2 Hardwired to Put Others First 92

8.3 Hardwired to Bring Others Down 94

8.4 What Are the Risks of a Lack of Self-Care? 98

8.5 Caring for Self 99

8.6 Definition of Self-Care, Self-Compassion, and Compassionate Care 99

8.7 Strategies for Managing and Promoting Self-Care and Self-Compassion 100

8.8 The Future 105

8.9 Summary 106

References 107

Index 123