The Crucial Role of Empathy in Neuroscience Nursing for Healthcare Management

Abstract

Neurological disorders can adversely affect the physical, emotional, and mental health of affected individuals. Neurological disorders, if not recognised and treated, can cause serious, even life-threatening, implications. Empathy, referring to understanding the individual experience of the patient without being bound to him/her, is an essential skill for communication by the health professional, which involves three elements: the emotional, the cognitive, and the behavioural. Empathy allows nurses to establish a trusting relationship with the patient. Nursing refers to actions based on clinical decisions by the nurse, to help people to enhance, sustain, or regain health, manage health problems, and attain the highest quality of life to the end of life, whatever their state of health or of the disease or disability. The expertise of nurses in neurological assessments, medication management, rehabilitation techniques and patient education can contribute positively to both patient care and outcomes. We review recent empirical findings in the literature on the neurobiological and psychological perspective to illustrate how empathy-based caring is related to health care management. This entails valuable implications for medical training and neuroscience education.