Date: 01/26/2023
Author(s): Taressa K. Fraze and Sunita Mutha
Most people’s perspective of health care carries an expectation that patients will be treated with kindness and empathy by health care workers. However as rates of burnout among workers rise, empathy and patience are in shorter supply. What can organizations do to support their staff to deliver quality care – and not put greater demands on them in the process? In this commentary on a systematic review of research, Healthforce Center’s Taressa Fraze and Sunita Mutha consider the need for interventions at the organizational level, examples of how organizations can change systems to improve empathy, and the role of leadership in promoting empathy. They conclude, “Ownership for cultivating empathy starts and ends with leadership…. At a minimum, leaders must model kindness.” Read the complete commentary.