Background: Although compassionate care especially for elderly patients is
increasingly addressed in nursing, little work was done in the Egyptian cultural
context. Aim of the study: to measure nurses' perception of compassionate care
delivery in Beni_Suef city. Subjects and methods: This descriptive cross
sectional study was carried-out in Beni_Suef University Hospital, General
Hospital, as well as Continuing/Long-term care and Home Health Care (HHC)
services on 140 nurses in the settings. Data were collected using a self
administered questionnaire including the compassionate care scale assessing
nurse's compassionate care attitude, practice, and self-confidence. The fieldwork
lasted from January to June 2019. Results: Nurses' age ranged between 20 and 65
years, mostly females (63.6%), with diploma degree nurses (68.6%). The majority
had high compassionate attitude (82.9%), but only 51.4% had having adequate
compassionate practice and 59.3% had high confidence in compassionate care. The
compassionate care confidence and practice scores had significant positive
correlations with qualification, and negative correlations with age and experience.
Conclusion and recommendations: The nurses' attitude towards compassionate
care is high, whereas their practice of compassionate care and related self
confidence are low. The study recommends in-service specialized training
programs for nurses. The subject of compassionate care should be given more
consideration in nursing curricula. Further research is suggested to evaluate the
long-term effect of such programs on nurses' practice of compassionate care and
related self-confidence