Analysis of England's Nursing Policy on Compassion and 6Cs

Bradshaw, A. (2016). An
analysis of England’s
nursing policy on
compassion and 6Cs: The
hidden presence of M.
Simone Roach’s model of
caring. Nursing Inquiry,
23(1), 78-
85. doi: 10.1111/nin.
1210
Introduction
Nurses always follow fundamental values and core principles while providing care to the
patients. In order to build a trustworthy relationship with patients, nurses are bound to treat them
with profound respect. There are NMBA codes of conducts set in nursing professions which
nurses are meant to be followed strictly in their working practice. NMBA codes of conduct
generally describe the principles of professional behaviour and it guides the safe practice. At the

same time, it also clearly outlines the conduct expected from nurses and the broader community.
Although, individual nurses have their personal beliefs and values but, the codes outline the
specific standards. In NMBA there are specific fundamentals of nursing associated with the code
of conducts and compassion, commitment, confidence these 3Cs are related to this.
3Cs of nursing and its relation to the codes of conduct
Compassion
Compassion is associated with nursing care and literatures indicated that it is one of the
fundamental aspects of nursing (Power, 2016). This important value of 6Cs is directly embedded
with the term professional behaviour which is related to the domain, act with professional
integrity of NMBA codes of conduct of the nurses. According to literatures, compassionate
nursing care is the highest priority while providing healthcare to the patients (Barchard,
Sixsmith, Neill & Meurier, 2017). In a study, the authors showed that compassionate care is a
radical concept and it has potential to promote respect for the dignity of the patients (Snelling,
2016). Authors also stated that compassion helps in being close to the patients and enhances the
empathetic care (Henderson & Jones, 2017). If nurses are implementing compassion then it also
improves the health and wellbeing which is a part of the domain, promote health and wellbeing
of the NMBA codes of conduct of nursing. Therefore, among the core elements of caring,
compassion play a major role and it empowers people not only to acknowledge but also to act
according to authors (Snelling, 2016). The concept and inclusion of compassion in nursing is an
increasing concern worldwide as it helps in uniting people during difficult times and also builds
human relationship that promotes physical as well as mental health. However, nurses in many
studies expressed their concern that they cannot provide holistic care due to other administrative

tasks and they claimed all these have distracted them from being compassionate while handling
the patients (Barchard, Sixsmith, Neill & Meurier, 2017). Therefore, in order to address and
evaluate compassion into the nursing practice, it is important to increase the focus of compassion
at all levels of nursing education and training as it is integrated into the codes of conduct of
nursing practice (Bramley & Matiti, 2014).
Commitment
Commitment is another element of codes of conduct in nursing profession which plays a
major role in addressing professional behaviour which is the domain of NMBA codes of conduct
into the working practice. It is an essential element of 6Cs of nursing (Bradshaw, 2016). Nurses
are committed for providing care to patients around them and it also addresses the health and
wellbeing domain of NMBA codes of conduct. Commitment constantly looks for exploring a
new way to do any task and according to literatures professional commitment is the main cause
of professional competence in nursing profession and for example, if the environment of working
is not fruitful, the healthcare gets affected but commitment of nurses can ensure the nursing
codes of conduct to be reflected in their work (Bagley, Abubaker & Sawyerr, 2018). Nurses with
higher professional competence also help in improving the public concept towards nursing
profession. It is also defined as loyalty and desire to stay in profession. In nursing practices, the
commitment of nurses enhances the optimal patient care experience. The commitment in
working practice not only enhances the care experience but also helps in maintain a good
professional relationship among the colleagues. Nurses can showcase their responsibilities if they
are committed towards the patients as well as towards their job while providing care. Upholding
and staying committed towards the work and the profession is paramount in nursing profession
(Jafaraghaee, Ebadi, Negarandeh & Mehrdad, 2017). Therefore, integrating this element of codes