I’ve been excited for months…now I’m starting to feel a bit of the nerves as well.
In two days, I’ll be opening the show for this TEDx event! I am so grateful for this opportunity.
The nurses I’ve been teaching for the last 6 years or so already know this, but the topic of empathy versus compassion has been one of my soapboxes for years. I'm so excited to be able to share this idea with a broader audience. So much disconnection comes from us not understanding accurately how our brains work differently when they’re stressed than they do when we’re relaxed.
On some level we all know this, but I haven’t seen conversations around what that means. Because I think it means we have a bridge of opportunity here- one which could help us repair what is currently being measured as one of the lowest trust levels in health care (at least the lowest since the Beryl Institute started their studies). Top identified needs by patients included feeling heard, and receiving information in a way they can understand.
I’ve been a patient. I’ve been a nurse. There’s a better way to accomplish meeting all of our needs. And I think it starts with the Science of Compassion. More on that soon with the talk, and with an research review article that should be coming out in JONS (Journal of Oncology Navigation and Survivorship) in November!