Empatia wśród przedstawicieli zawodów medycznych – korzyści a ryzyko wypalenia zawodowego

Halina Zielińska-Więczkowska

Summary
Consumptionism and degradation of moral values that have been observed in the modern world are not conducive to empathy. People tend to value material things more than the fact of actually being human. Being successful means to be wealthy and recognized by others and some people are determined to accomplish these goals even at the expense of other important values, such as family or their own health.
Empathy is the ability to empathize with others and understand their mental states. It is the art of listening to others and effective responding to their emotional needs. Empathy appears in early childhood and develops over time. Educators (parents, and teachers) play a key role in empathy development process in children. Empathy allows individuals to build good relationships with other people based on mutual understanding and achieve success in many areas of life, including professional career.
The article stresses the great importance of empathy among healthcare providers, especially doctors, nurses and paramedics. In healthcare empathy determines the human essence of care, a higher quality of service and patient’s satisfaction. Patient’s evaluation of a healthcare provider is influenced by the provider’s personality.
There is a high risk of burnout in the group of professionals whose job is to help others. The aforementioned occupations belong to this group. The article shows the causes and results of the lack of empathy, or alexithymia.
The aim of this article based on literature review and research reports is to show empathy as a highly desired value/skill among healthcare providers, and on the other hand to highlight the risk of burnout. It also stresses the role of education in developing empathy.

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