The Ethic of Compassion 9/25/07

http://www2.nurseweek.com/Articles/article.cfm?AID=21378


Some of the most important character traits someone in the medical field, such as a nurse or doctor, should always be striving for as well as incorporating into their constant care of any given patient are compassion and empathy. These are important for many reasons, such as making the patient as comfortable as possible, relating to them in order for them to have an outlet and someone to talk to about their problems, and getting to know people better. It is always easier to give proper and sufficient care to someone if you put yourself into their position, seeing it through their eyes. The Dalai Lama speaks to some of these issues in his writings, especially in the 10th paragraph where he addresses the fact that it is one thing to care for someone who is related to you or very close in some way to your own life, but it is another thing entirely to have empathy and compassion for a total stranger who doesn't have any impact on your life or well being at all. Sometimes it can be difficult to show constant compassion for someone so detached from yourself, and even more so for people in the medical profession who have to do it all the time. He basically says that even if it is out of duty or guilt, it's better than no compassion at all, but many times, this behavior can leave you with despair and ultimate failure if you are forced into these feelings on a day to day basis. It becomes more like a job and less like a caring personal environment. He says that the only way to have true compassionate caring for every human being, not just people that are important to you, it must be an internal personal change. This is easier said than done, because everyone is human and doesn't have the capacity to really love everyone they come in contact with, but it is an admirable goal to be as compassionate as possible when dealing with the lives of other human beings.