Is compassion essential to nursing practice?

The Norwegian Nurses' Association recently (2001) approved a new code of ethics that included compassion as one of the basic values in nursing care. This paper examines the idea of compassion in the context of the Bible story of the Good Samaritan using an analysis of qualitative data from nurses' clinical work with psychiatric patients. The aim is to show how the idea of compassion challenges nursing practice. Thereafter, the paper discusses the benefits of and premises for compassion in care work. The results show that nurses tend not to be guided by compassion in their work with patients. The organisation of the day-to-day work in the hospital ward, the division of labour between nurses and doctors, and the nurses' approach to nursing were identified as influencing this tendency. The study shows that compassion is a radical concept with a potential to promote greater respect for patients' dignity.