Empathy in Nursing Leadership
Published: 15 August 2016
Published: 15 August 2016
An inspirational leader will use empathy to understand what support and direction their team members need in order to achieve. Empathy builds rapport.
Rapport exists when our hearts and minds are in sync. It allows us to feel understood and experience a sense of belonging. In a team environment, it is an expression of working cohesively in the pursuit of shared goals.
Empathy is the ability to understand another’s situation, feelings and motives. It is our capacity to recognise and appreciate the concerns other people have. Empathy is often colloquially described as ‘putting yourself in someone else’s shoes’ or ‘seeing a situation through someone else’s eyes’. That is, to be able to see a situation as another would.
Developing the skills that convey empathy is important for nurse leaders. Very rarely do we work in an environment where we can do our job without the need to interact with others. Therefore, an empathetic leader prioritises the welfare of the people they lead. Developing your ability to convey empathy authentically is an essential leadership skill. Naturally, people respond positively when others show that they care about them and their concerns. This is the case in life, as it is in nursing. Nursing is, after all, a team sport!
To build rapport with your team and to have them support you in achieving your goals, you have to be prepared to help them. If you don’t come out of your office and away from the computer when they are struggling with the workload, you are sending a strong message that you are not part of the team: the notion that their struggle is not your struggle.
Show an interest in the lives of the people you wish to lead. It is easier to show empathy if you know about your people. Do you know a little about each staff member? For example, their partner’s name and what they do for a job, their children's names if they have children, what their passions and hobbies are?
By incorporating the above techniques into your leadership style, you and your team are likely to benefit from:
Finally, the law of reciprocity suggests that if you do me a favour, I am obliged to do the same for you. If you, as a nurse leader, show you care about the nurses and allied health professionals in your team, they are more likely to care about you and the goals that you share.
Janette Cooper is a registered nurse, currently working as a gastroenterology procedure nurse at Noarlunga Hospital. She has a Bachelor of Nursing, a Graduate Certificate in Health Service Management from Flinders University, and a certificate in Gastroenterology Nursing from The Queensland University of Technology. In 2012 she began a life coaching course with The Coaching Institute in Melbourne. It has allowed her to combine her two passions of nursing and personal development. She divides her time between gastroenterology nursing and promoting personal development and leadership by means of frequently published articles through Ausmed, leadership presentations and workshops and coaching health professionals wanting to develop their leadership potential. See Educator Profile