Investigating the Compassion Levels of Perioperative Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction

Compassion is an important component of care. Feeling someone else's pain, pity and the act of alleviating pain is called compassion. Surgical nursing fulfills very challenging tasks and has an important place in the lives of patients.

Objective

This study aimed to examine the compassion levels of perioperative nurses.

Method

The data of this descriptive and cross-sectional study were collected in the surgical units of a hospital in Istanbul. The sample included 144 perioperative nurses. After obtaining their informed consent, the individual characteristics form and the Compassion Scale were submitted online. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistical methods, post hoc, Mann–Whitney U test, and Kruskal–Wallis test.

Results

The mean age of the perioperative nurses was 28.1 ± 3.67 years; 60.4% were single and 85.4% had a bachelor's degree. In the sample, 59.7% consisted of female perioperative nurses. Of the perioperative nurses in the sample, 65.3% had been working in the surgical unit for 4 to 9 years and 4.2% for 10 years or more. The proportion of those who willingly worked in the surgical unit was 75%, and 49.5% were satisfied with their profession. In this study, perioperative nurses’ mean compassion scale score was 92.85 ± 11.95. The highest scores were obtained from the subdimensions of mindfulness and common humanity. The compassion of those who willingly worked in the surgical unit, those who were satisfied with their profession and women was higher than the others, although statistically significant.

Conclusion

This study determined that perioperative nurses have compassion above the medium level. Plans and training should be made to increase this level. Opportunities and awareness-raising interventions can be implemented to increase the unit and professional satisfaction of perioperative nurses.