I'm a nurse and the empathy/sympathy distinction is made much of in training. It's essentially as you state - maintain professional distance, while also communicating to the patient that it's OK to vent, to cry, to complain; conveying that you 'get it.'
And also to not get too personally emotionally involved. The only case I've personally seen of drug diversion was a pediatric nurse who couldn't handle kids dying and got wrapped up with the parents' suffering. Opiates helped to numb all that.
Hi Colin, I work alot in mental health and wellbeing and we teach people about empathy. Empathy really is about seeing things from the other person's perspective and trying to understand/sense/imagine how they "may feel" . We cannot ever feel what someone else feels so we should avoid saying " I know how you feel" because we are all different and we all experience life challenges differently. Instead we can say " I can only imagine how you may feel". Equally, people think that empathy also means sharing stories of similar experiences as a means of creating a connection (good intent). We generally advise not to do this because it removes the focus from the person seeking support to yourself and can make a person feel less supported. I hope this is helpful.
I'm a nurse and the empathy/sympathy distinction is made much of in training. It's essentially as you state - maintain professional distance, while also communicating to the patient that it's OK to vent, to cry, to complain; conveying that you 'get it.'
And also to not get too personally emotionally involved. The only case I've personally seen of drug diversion was a pediatric nurse who couldn't handle kids dying and got wrapped up with the parents' suffering. Opiates helped to numb all that.
Hi Colin, I work alot in mental health and wellbeing and we teach people about empathy. Empathy really is about seeing things from the other person's perspective and trying to understand/sense/imagine how they "may feel" . We cannot ever feel what someone else feels so we should avoid saying " I know how you feel" because we are all different and we all experience life challenges differently. Instead we can say " I can only imagine how you may feel". Equally, people think that empathy also means sharing stories of similar experiences as a means of creating a connection (good intent). We generally advise not to do this because it removes the focus from the person seeking support to yourself and can make a person feel less supported. I hope this is helpful.