Virtues and Principles in Healthcare Management

Introduction

Healthcare management practices are specifically guided by principles and goals that are followed by the practitioners in order to stimulate the type of care as per the needs of the patients. It has been observed that virtues are integral towards improving the degree of healthcare practices among the practitioners while addressing to the different changing needs and requirements of the patients (Abel et al. 2018). The Six C’s relating to Care, Compassion, Competence, Communication, Courage and Commitment are identified as the major virtues that might be considered by the healthcare practitioners in order to improve their degree of operations while addressing to the specific needs and requirements of the patients (West and Chowla 2017). Efficient functioning of a medical practitioner is based on the compassionate practices that are undertaken by the same which influences the degree of trust and commitment among the patients.

Quinn (2017) observed that building a trustworthy relation with the patients supports a medical practitioner in improving the capability of providing efficient medical interventions while identifying the healthcare needs, concerns and priorities. Therefore, compassionate treatment has been gaining importance in the healthcare management research through increased adoption of the same among the medical practitioners in order to influence an improvement in the care that is met out to the patients.

The discussion would identify the vulnerabilities that might affect the capability of the practitioners in a health and care related setting. Moreover, the discussion would identify the need for positive practice among the practitioners while developing insights on the policy drivers towards compassionate health and social care services. Lastly, the discussion would also understand the role of the professional in challenging poor practice while evaluating the different ways through which compassionate health care services might be delivered to the patients as per the needs.

Factors affecting individuals while making the same vulnerable within health and social care services

The major factors that have been limiting the capability of the medical practitioners in developing efficient health and social care services are specifically reliant on their stereotypes and inadequacy of knowledge on the changing and emerging needs or requirements of the patients. West and Chowla (2017) observed that the identification of the healthcare requirements of the patients is an integral aspect that supports the medical practitioners in improving the quality of the interventions while providing with person centred care. Moreover, Abel et al. (2018) stated that increased knowledge on the emerging healthcare issues and emotional constructs of the patients supports the medical practitioners in developing unique interventions through empathy.

However, it has been witnessed that in most cases the practitioners are limited through their limited knowledge on the changing needs and priorities of the patients. Breen et al. (2020) observed in a research that quality healthcare services are mostly regarded by the patients while choosing from a range of healthcare providers and practitioners. In order to maintain the quality of the healthcare services, absolute knowledge and empathy are some of the major aspects that might be maintained by the practitioners in order to address the different healthcare based needs of the patients (Abbey, Craig and Mayland 2020). The key areas of change in the healthcare organizations are based on the emerging healthcare concerns and shifting needs of the patients whereas the practitioners are expected to be empathetic, knowledgeable and compassionate towards the areas of operations. However, it has been witnessed that the practices of the medical practitioners are specifically guided through stereotypes and biases which affects their capability of interacting with the patients and identifying their specific needs.

Bridges et al. (2017) stated that the quality healthcare services are devisable through complete cooperation and collaboration between the patients and the practitioners. In this connection, the insufficiency of collaboration and cooperation between the patients and the practitioners are found to be the resultant of the communication lags and the inadequacy of compassionate and empathetic nature of the practitioner. A practitioner takes the initiative of communicating with the patients with the purpose of developing an idea on the emotions, the priorities and the healthcare based needs of the same. Efficient communication between the patients and the practitioners empowers the development of empathy and compassion which improves the scope of person centred care or primary healthcare operations (Aoun 2020). For an instance, if a practitioner fails to communicate adequately with patient, the capability of understanding the situation of the patient is hampered and the medical interventions that might be actually required by the patient is misinterpreted which affects the quality of healthcare services that is being provided.

On the other hand, from the research made by Tierney et al. (2017), it has been witnessed that barriers like heavy workloads, lack of amenities, and inadequacy of reward and recognition system has critically limited the capability of the medical practitioners in developing compassionate care related activities. In several cases, it has been witnessed that practitioners who are willing to participate in efficient communication with the patients are often restricted through the increased workload which forced them to take on the change of a professional approach. In other occasions it was noted that insufficiency of amenities and physical resources acted as major sources of barriers to develop compassionate care capabilities among the practitioners (Beardsmore and McSherry 2017). Therefore, efficient communication is an integral part of patients’ and the practitioners’ relationship while empowering the scope of effective medical interventions. Matos et al. (2017) opined that the efficient communication between the patients and the practitioners supports in developing insights on the areas of concerns which might be resolved by the practitioners. Communication enables transmission of important information on the health and mental aspects of the patients while supporting the medical practitioners in developing knowledge on the different areas of change.

However, in certain situations, communication fails to take place between the patient and the practitioner which might limit the scope of the practitioners or the healthcare service providers in developing efficient medical interventions as per the priorities or needs of the patients (Dupasquier et al. 2020). On the other hand, in the context of social care services like aged care or acting as an effective psychotherapist, the medical practitioners must inherit a wider knowledge on the social constructs and the community settings in order to facilitate a brief idea on the background to their operations. Aoun (2020) examined in a research and stated that the identification of the social constructs and the societal psychologies is an integral aspect that might be considered by the medical practitioners before providing any sort of medical intervention and delivering their services as per the needs of the patients or clients.

The identification of the social constructs or the cultural attributes of the people in the society supports a medical practitioner in improving their chances on delivering efficient medical interventions. However, it has been observed that in most situations the activities of the practitioners are specifically guided by stereotypes which limit their capability on providing efficient person centered care. Knowledge on the concerns that are being encountered by the people influences the compassionate practices that are mostly expected by the people from the medical practitioners. The aspect of compassion in a healthcare setting is specifically based on the manner in which the care delivered to the people while respecting and empathizing on their distress and maintaining a dignity standard while developing interventions (Flores et al. 2018). Kemp et al. (2020) opined that compassion in a healthcare setting acts as a way of offering reassurance and listening actively to the patient which lowers blood pressure and enables faster recuperation with reduced pain and shorter hospital stays.

The responsibility of different professionals to adhere to positive practice

Positive practice is an essential factor that guides the success factors of practitioners while addressing the specific needs and requirements of the patients. Positive practice in a healthcare setting identifies the role of the practitioners and the attributes that might be reflected by the same in order to ensure the faster recovery of the patients. Biases, stereotyping and assumption based practices are considered to be negative practices which affects the health of the patients. McSherry et al. (2018) stated that the positive practices in a healthcare setting is specifically based on the integrity and commitment of the practitioners in developing medical interventions while addressing the different mental and physical requirements. In this connection, the positive practices are specifically reliant on empathizing with the patient, developing compassionate understanding on the situation that is being encountered by the patient and devising treatment solutions that would result to alleviation of suffering (Farr and Barker 2017).

Kouta et al. (2019) opined that practitioners develop responsible relations with the patients while communicating with the same with the purpose of assessing or diagnosing the root cause of the concerns. Efficient communication with the patients does not only provide knowledge to the medical practitioners or providers on the different concerns but also supports in reassuring the patient which results towards faster recovery and reduced pains. The nature of operations that are considered by the practitioners are reliant on the need for the patients and the manner in which the interventions might be positioned with the purpose of influencing an increased recovery rate (Gilbert 2021). In certain situations, the practitioners or the care providers choose not to reveal the seriousness of the concern to the patient with the purpose of improving the degree of faster recovery.

However, McSherry and Pearce (2018) opined that transparency in communication is an integral part which must be followed by the practitioners and the care providers with the purpose of avoiding future concerns. For an instance, a practitioner must take the initiative of informing the family members of a cancer patient with the purpose of maintaining transparency and as a duty of sharing information, but might choose not to reveal the cause of the illness to the patient. The judgment on activities of the practitioners is specifically guided by empathy and compassion which the same feels towards the concerns that are being faced by the patient in the intensive care (Kemp et al. 2020). Adherence to positive practice is a necessity for the professionals in order to ensure the improvements in the recovery rates while addressing to the different needs of the patients.

Moreover, it has been observed that in the cases of patients who would not recover from a health situation, compassionate care of the practitioners would support them in bearing with the pain or trauma. The aspects of compassionate care are specifically based on the principles of treating the patients in order to reduce their pain or improve the rate of their recovery (MacArthur et al. 2017). In most situations it has been observed that the practitioners tend to stipulate and assume the interventions while not holding a communication with the patient or understanding the causes of the concerns that are being faced by the same. Therefore, the practitioners must take the initiative of developing efficient compassionate care practices while following the principles with the purpose of ensuring that the patient is relieved of the pain or increase the rate of recovery.

In certain cases, the medical interventions that are laid down by the medical practitioners fail to achieve their targets while ensuring a better recovery rate. Taylor, LeBlanc and Nosik (2019) stated that medical practitioners must be patient and take the time of interacting with the patient and identify their concerns rather than simply devising interventions on the basis of assumptions. Therefore, positive practices like efficient communication, empathizing and showing compassionate behavior to the concerns of the patients and developing person centric care interventions might be adhered by the professionals with the purpose of ensuring the efficiency of activities while providing care and support to the patients as per their needs.

3. Concepts and analysis of policy drivers relating to compassionate health and social care.

The concept of compassionate health and social care is basically driven by empathy, respect and dignity as the core values which influence the success factors while addressing the different challenges and concerns that are being faced by the patients. Pesut et al. (2018) stated that showing compassion to a patient means that the practitioner would reassure the patient while patiently listen to the different areas of concerns that are being encountered by the client or patient. The attribute would significantly support in lowering the blood pressure and anxiety of the patient along with reduced pain and faster recuperation (Matos et al. 2018). In this connection, the practitioners or the care providers primarily holds communication with the patients and reassures the same on the quick recovery process which acts as a therapeutic treatment towards traumatic injuries.

On the other hand, Wakam et al. (2020) opined that the practitioners take the initiative of sympathizing on the situation of the patient while encouraging a mental stability in the mind of the patient which relieves the same of anxiety. The compassionate care in health and social setting is required with the purpose of understanding the concerns that are being faced by the patient while devising different strategic interventions in order to alleviate the pain. In different case studies and reports it has been observed that the application of the therapeutic treatments through compassionate care supports in improving the healing criteria with quick recovery rates among the patients (McSherry et al. 2018).

The Health and Social Care Act 2008 has devised certain provisions which has led the businesses to form policies relating to care activities based on the changing needs and requirements of the patients (Quinn 2017). The major policy drivers in this connection is specifically based on the needs of providing the patients with a care that is more fit as per the requirements or priorities of the same (Pesut et al. 2018). The compassionate care activities are mostly driven by the needs of the traumatic patients. In this connection, through different case studies and research it was observed that compassionate care activities offers reassurance to the patients and reduces their anxiety which increases the rate of fast recovery among the patients.

According to Farr and Barker (2017), kindness and compassion being shown to the patients by the medical practitioners supports in developing a trustworthy relation which improves the degree of collaboration. Collaboration between the patient and the practitioners are integral towards ensuring the improvement of the medical interventions with positive outcomes like quick recovery and satisfaction of the patients. The Health and Social Care Act 2008 is focused towards inducing positive values among the healthcare providers while guiding the operations of the practitioners towards addressing the diverse needs of the patients (Tierney et al. 2017). In this connection, the implementation of empathetic and compassionate care by the practitioners is essential towards improving the degree of person centric care while addressing the various requirements of the people.

Policies are developed by the healthcare organizations and providers related to the providence of compassionate care with the purpose of ensuring the health and wellbeing of the patients. Compassionate care acts as a reassurance for the patients while relieving the same of anxiety and stress which critically addresses the needs of a traumatic patient and leads the same towards faster recovery. On the other hand, the legislative requirements through the Health and Social Care Act 2008 are mostly fulfilled by the healthcare or social care providers through the implementation of compassionate care in order to influence the development of the person centric care setting (West and Chowla 2017).

The role of the professional in challenging poor practice and ensuring that safeguarding takes place

Professionals in the healthcare setting mostly take the initiative of developing a range of interventions with the purpose of challenging the poor practices in a healthcare setting while ensuring the development of efficient care services being met out to the patients. According to Abbey, Craig and Mayland (2020), poor practices are a set of activities that are undertaken by the healthcare professionals in a setting that has caused damage or affected the interests of the patients or the failure to provide the patients with a standard care. The healthcare professionals are required to have a keen eye on the areas of concerns that are being encountered by the practitioners which are leading to the poor practice while dealing with the patients. The healthcare professionals are indebted to their roles of identifying the source of the poor practice and thereby reporting the same to the concerned authorities like NHS and Social Care or the Care Quality Commission (Taylor, LeBlanc and Nosik 2019).

Gilbert (2021) stated that Whistle- blowing is one of the chief activities that fits into the role of a healthcare professional whenever one encounters a poor practice being delivered to the patients. Whistle blowing acts as a measure towards making the concerned authorities aware of the unethical or poor practice and thereby limiting the scope of the poor practice in the healthcare setting. Tierney et al. (2017) opined that the whistle blowing activity acts as a eye- opener in most of the professions. In this connection, it has been observed that the effective whistle blowing activity from the side of a healthcare professional on any poor practice might significantly make the remaining people in the division aware of the challenges that they might face through the practice.

The fear of losing their medical licenses would drive changes in the healthcare setting, after a whistle blowing activity, and thereby they would specifically focus towards implementing positive practices based on the ethical standards (Wakam et al. 2020). In different scenarios it was observed that the development of the different areas of change in the healthcare organizations are brought about by the whistle blowers who identifies the concerns and reports the same to the higher officials or administrators for consideration and development. In this connection, the healthcare professionals are entrusted with the responsibility of developing an idea on the areas of concerns that are being faced by the patients through the poor practice and thereby devise ways to resolve the same.

On the other hand, Dupasquier et al. (2020) opined that ethical reporting of the concerns is an essential aspect that might be considered by the healthcare professionals in order to improve the instances of compassionate care and positive practice in the healthcare setting. Therefore, it has been observed that the ethical reporting and whistle blowing after identification of the concerns related to poor practice in a healthcare setting are some of the major roles of the medical practitioners in order to improve the scope of operations (Quinn 2017). Controlling the operations and adherence to the ethical healthcare standards are preliminary requirements in order to maintain the continuity of the effective healthcare services in a setting. The medical practitioners are required to follow the ethical standards and the different requirements of positive practice in order to ensure the continuity of effective healthcare services.

Sustenance of the ethical backgrounds in the health and social care services are mostly reliant on the strict adherence to the standards by the medical practitioners. According to Matos et al. (2018), a strict adherence to the positive health and social care services support the medical practitioners in safeguarding or retaining the value of the positive care practices in a healthcare setting (Matos et al. 2018). Therefore, a medical practitioner largely contributes towards identifying the negative influences in the health and social care services while reporting the same to higher authorities through whistle blowing. On the other hand, the strict adherence to the quality standards and the ethical backgrounds of the positive practices is a necessity that might be followed by the medical practitioners or professionals in order to sustain the value of the services.

5. Concepts of compassion and ways in which practitioners provide compassionate care.

Compassion in the healthcare setting is mostly based on respecting the emotions and the mental situation of the patients while developing empathy based interventions with the purpose of providing person centric care to the patients. According to McSherry et al. (2017), the essence of compassionate care is specifically focused towards identifying and reassuring the patients while reducing their anxiety for faster recuperation. Moreover, Beardsmore and McSherry (2017) opined that compassion empowers a dignity and collaborative functioning of the practitioner and the patients in order to alleviate pains through the development of suitable interventions. It has been observed through different case studies in the medical profession that establishing efficient relation with the patients supports a practitioner in developing a trustworthy contact while supporting the same to identify the concerns that are being encountered by the patients. In this connection, it has been observed that the essence of person centric care in both health and social setting is reliant on the identification and mitigation of the concern (MacArthur et al. 2017).

Compassionate care supports a practitioner in developing coherent understanding on the pain areas of the patients while developing unique interventions while avoiding stereotypes. Moreover, it was observed that the development of the compassionate care attributes support a medical practitioner in improving the scope of the interventions through close collaboration with the patients. In this connection, there are several ways through which a medical practitioner might take the initiative of showing compassion while providing care to the patients (Flores et al. 2018). Practices like showing personal interest, calmly attending the patient and reassuring the same on the alleviation of the pain or the concerns or taking time to react on the different emotional aspects of the patients are important qualities that might be reflected by the medical practitioner while providing compassionate care to the clients and patients. The identification of the emotions and providing a source of stress relief through communication with the patients are important activities that might be considered by a medical practitioner in order to reduce the anxiety or pain of the patients and thereby facilitate faster recovery (Gilbert 2021).

According to MacArthur et al. (2017), compassionate care acts as the best medicine towards ensuring the improvement of the patients while developing capability among the practitioners to facilitate person centric care. The development of the person centric care attributes support a medical practitioner in improving the scope of the operations while addressing the different changing needs of the patients. From the case studies of different healthcare institutions and the lives of diverse successful care providers and practitioners it has been observed that compassion acts a major role in improving the scope of the care interventions while addressing to the shifting emotional and psychological needs of the patients. In traumatic care, it was observed that compassionate care acts as therapeutic interventions towards reducing the pains or anxieties of the patients while ensuring faster recuperation (Dupasquier et al. 2020). Therefore, the development of compassionate care is a necessity that must be considered by the health and social care practitioners with the purpose of improving their scope of operations and addressing the specific pain areas of the patients.

Conclusion

Therefore, from the above discussion it might be concluded that compassionate care supports the health and social care practitioners in developing effective and collaborative relations with the patients while addressing their concerns through the implementation of the person centric care standards. Compassionate care is specifically comprised of respect, dignity and empathy towards the patient while reassuring the same on the alleviation of their pain for faster recuperation and reduced anxiety or fear. Among the other virtues compassion is an integral aspect that might be considered by the practitioners and therapists with the purpose of improving the intensity of their care while reaching out for addressing the specific needs and requirements of the patients.

Compassion is a concept through which the manner of care delivery is assessed based on the relationships with the patients. Compassion assists a medical practitioner in building relationship with the patients through empathy, respect for the emotions and dignity of practice and is thereby identified as an intelligent service delivery process for providing person centric care to the people. The discussion unravels the challenges that are faced by the practitioners and the service providers in developing capabilities on compassionate care while determining the positive and negative practices that limits the scope of efficient social and health care services. The discussion also identified the role of the professionals in challenging the negative practices while suggesting ways through which compassionate care might be implemented in the medical operations while addressing the needs of the patients.

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