Compassion in health professionals: development and validation of the Capacity for Compassion Scale
Article
Ruiz‐Fernández, M.D., Alcaraz‐Córdoba, A., Hernández‐Padilla, J.M., Ibáñez‐Masero, O., García‐Navarro, E.B. and Ortega‐Galán, Á.M. 2024. Compassion in health professionals: development and validation of the Capacity for Compassion Scale. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 80 (6), pp. 2351-2362. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.15987
| Type | Article |
|---|---|
| Title | Compassion in health professionals: development and validation of the Capacity for Compassion Scale |
| Authors | Ruiz‐Fernández, M.D., Alcaraz‐Córdoba, A., Hernández‐Padilla, J.M., Ibáñez‐Masero, O., García‐Navarro, E.B. and Ortega‐Galán, Á.M. |
| Abstract | Background Health professionals witness pain and suffering when they care for sick people and their families. Compassion is a necessary quality in their work as it combines the will to help, alleviate suffering and promote the well-being of both the people they are attending and the professionals themselves. The aim of the study was to design and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Capacity for Compassion Scale (CCS). Design A quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out to evaluate the psychometric properties of the scale (reliability, temporal stability, content validity, criterion validity and construct validity). Methods The study was carried out in two phases: pilot study and final validation. The data were collected between April and May 2022. The sample was selected by convenience sampling and was made up of a total of 264 participants, 59 in the pilot phase and 205 in the final validation. Results The Capacity for Compassion Scale has been shown to have good psychometric properties in relation to reliability, temporal stability, and content, criterion, and construct validity. Factor analysis showed that there were four subdimensions of the scale: motivation/commitment, presence, shared humanity and self-compassion. The results also indicate that compassionate ability is significantly correlated with age and work experience. Conclusions The Capacity for Compassion Scale shows adequate psychometric properties. This instrument measures the compassion capacity of health professionals, which is a valuable discovery for new lines of research in this field. Impact Through this scale, low levels of capacity for compassion can be detected that negatively influence the quality of care provided by health professionals. The Capacity for Compassion Scale can therefore contribute to the identification of needs and promote training around compassion for health professionals. Patient or Public Contribution No patient or public contribution. What Problem did the Study Address? Compassion in health professionals has positive effects on improving the quality of care, the satisfaction of professionals and the work environment. What were the Main Findings? A scale is designed to measure capacity for compassion in health professionals. This is the only such scale available up until now. Where and on Whom will the Research Have an Impact? The development of specific programmes that can increase the compassion of health professionals with all the benefits that this can bring to health care is encouraged. |
| Sustainable Development Goals | 3 Good health and well-being |
| Middlesex University Theme | Health & Wellbeing |
| Publisher | Wiley |
| Journal | Journal of Advanced Nursing |
| ISSN | 0309-2402 |
| Electronic | 1365-2648 |
| Publication dates | |
| Online | 27 Nov 2023 |
| Jun 2024 | |
| Publication process dates | |
| Submitted | 28 May 2023 |
| Accepted | 13 Nov 2023 |
| Deposited | 10 Nov 2025 |
| Output status | Published |
| Publisher's version | License File Access Level Open |
| Copyright Statement | This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.15987 |
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