This document discusses empathy and sympathy in nursing care. It defines empathy as recognizing another's feelings, while sympathy is feeling for someone. Empathy allows nurses to understand a patient's perspective and build trust. It is crucial in nursing as it helps alleviate patient suffering and strengthen communication. The document outlines how to demonstrate sympathy and types of empathetic responses to avoid, such as judging, advising, reassuring or distracting responses. It concludes that a nurse's empathy can support patients and leave them with a positive outlook.

2. SYMPATHIC AND
EMPATHIC CARE TO
THE PATIENT
PRESENTED BY:
SHIVANGI SHARMA
MEDICAL SURGICAL
NURSING
AIIMS, GKP

3. REMEMBER….
Professionalism is the basis of
medicine’s social contract with society
Professionalism demands placing
the interests of patients above those
of the physician, setting and
maintaining standards of competence
and integrity, and providing expert
advice to society on matters of health

4. STATUS: LOOK AT THIS
PICTURE
What is happening?
What are you feeling?
Are you experiencing any motor
responses?

5. STATUS: LOOK AT THESE
PICTURES
What do you think is
happening?
 What are you feeling?

7. EMPATHY: WHAT IS IT?
Empathy is the capacity to recognize and
experience feelings that are being experienced
by another.
“It is the intrapersonal realization of another’s
plight that illuminates the potential
consequences of one’s own actions on the lives
of others.” (Hollingsworth, 2003)

8. CONT....
“The essence of empathy is the ability to stand in
another’s shoes, to feel what it’s like there and to care
about making it better if it hurts.”
--Szalavitz, M. & Perry, B.D. (2010). Born for love: Why
empathy is essential & endangered. New York: William
Morrow, (p. 12)

9. STATUS: LOOK AT THESE
PICTURES
What is happening?

10. SYMPATHY: WHAT
IS IT?
Sympathy involves simply
understanding someone’s current
situation and having compassion on
him or her.

11. CONT.....
Sympathy is a desire to see a
patient free from distress and the
hope that they can overcome their
affliction. In other words, empathy is
feeling with someone and sympathy
is feeling for someone.

12. HOW TO
DIFFERENTIATE....
.............?

13. CONT.....

14. CONT....
Empathy allows nurses to recognize and share the
emotions of a patient, sympathy is a response to a
person's circumstance. Sympathy is a desire to see a
patient free from distress and the hope that they can
overcome their affliction. In other words, empathy is
feeling with someone and sympathy is feeling for
someone.

15. WHAT
ARE THE
IMPORTA
NCE OF
EMPATHY
AND
SYMPATH
Y?
Cannot build rapport or gain trust
without showing those feeling.
Back bone for establishing and
solidifying helping relationship.
Help in developing mutual
understanding.
Guide us to build appropriate
perceptions

16. WHY
EMPATHY
IS
CRUCIAL
IN
NURSING
?
When patients undergo treatment,
they may feel anxious, overwhelmed
and even terrified by the process. In
some cases, the prognosis is grim,
which may negatively affect patients
mentally and emotionally. Nurses know
that empathetic care can help alleviate
suffering while a patient fights an
aggressive disease, goes through a
complicated surgery or endures a
lengthy recovery.

17. CONT...
Empathy helps nurses build a trusting
connection with those in their care by
focusing on the patient's point of view.
This strengthens communication
because nurses can gain an
understanding of how patients re
coping and what they are experiencing.
Thus, empathy is essential to
promoting a dialogue with patients
about their discomfort, worries and
preferences.

18. Try to reflect on the patients feeling verbally by summarizing,
paraphrasing to show your caring attitude to patient.
Try to be consistent.
Try to pay attention.
Try to accept the feelings and point of views without changing
them, stop them, or judge them,
Try to understand and perceive things as they are.
HOW TO
BE
SYMPATHET
IC?

19. CONT...
Try to sit limits(I don’t have time now but we will talk next visit)
Try to respect and accept patient feeling.
Try to be genuine and sincere in your relation with patient.

20. WHAT ARE THE TYPE OF
EMPATHIC RESPONSES THAT
WE SHOULD AVOID?
1. Judging response: to evaluate another’s
feelings:
Tell patients in various ways that they shouldn’t
feel discouraged or frustrated, they shouldn’t
worry, they shouldn’t question their tre atment
by other health professional, Any message from
you that indicate you think patient is wrong or
bad, will make patient think and feel that you
are not worth his trust and he cant build
confidence for a helping relationship.

21. CONT...
2. Advising response:
• We can offer quick solution to another person’s
concern with or without correct perception to his
exact needs the best source of solution to the
problem is always within the patient him/her self
• Rely on other for advise may keep patients
dependent, this is against the empowerment idea
• when there are times when patients are not
capable of coping or understanding or deciding
for a solution to their problem, you should walk
them and direct them to the solution without
dictating it to them. It has to be and show that is
coming from them not you.

22. CONT...
3. Reassuring response:
Telling patients who is facing surgery don’t
worry, every thing will be fine, you will turn out
just fine.
It may seems to be helpful but it is conveying
that the person shouldn’t feel upset, scared of the
procedure, and concerned about the outcomes.
You should tell the patient with exact words what
is the procedure steps briefly in understood
words, explain the risk in an honest words, state
the expected outcomes, and the assurance part
has to be in the part how practices, competent
you are, how careful you will be, and how common
this procedure is, and that his fear is very normal
to feel

23. CONT...
4.Distracting response:
changing the subject, or cutting off
patient’s talk or feeling just because we don’t
know how to response to them we might
direct the communication to topics we feel
comfortable with such as medication
regimens and so forth these responses tend
to convey to patients that we are not
listening, or we don’t want to listen.

24. CONCLUSION
A nurse's responsibility is to provide optimal patient care. Nurses constantly
face challenges, hardships and heartbreak throughout their nursing careers;
they know that not all patients survive. So, part of their job is to empathetically
support patients and their families in their struggle with devastating diseases,
life-changing injuries or terminal illnesses. The empathy that patients receive
from nurses can leave them with a positive outlook regarding their healthcare
experience.