ArticleJournal of advanced nursing2026
Challenges to Compassion for Patients Considered 'Difficult' to Care for: A Qualitative Content Analysis.
Article in Journal of advanced nursing, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Challenges to Compassion for Patients Considered 'Difficult' to Care for: A Qualitative Content Analysis.Journal of advanced nursing · 2026Article
- The Coercive Edge of Kindness: A Critical Analysis of 'Random Acts' in Nursing.Nursing inquiry · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimTo explore healthcare professionals' experiences of providing compassionate care and identify care situations considered challenging, with attention to the factors that contribute to these challenges.
methodA cross-sectional qualitative study was conducted involving 878 healthcare professionals in New Zealand who completed an anonymous online survey between February and May 2022. Of these, 115 participants provided detailed narrative responses describing patient care situations that challenged the provision of compassionate care. These qualitative responses were analysed using content analysis, guided by the Transactional Model of Physician Compassion and reported following the COREQ qualitative reporting guidelines.
resultsThree major themes emerged: (1) fragmented services, resource constraints, and compartmentalisation of care; (2) clinician compassion needs and motivations; and (3) patient-related challenges impacting compassionate care. Over 90% of narratives described barriers to compassionate care that were linked to interconnected patient, clinician, clinical, and systemic factors-rather than being focused on individual patient influences alone.
conclusionChallenges to compassionate care are rarely attributable to individual patient characteristics alone. Instead, they reflect complex interactions among patient, provider, clinical, and systemic factors, underscoring the need for multilevel interventions to foster equitable, compassionate care. IMPACT: This study highlights that barriers to compassionate care are embedded in complex systemic, clinician, and patient domains. Findings underscore the need for interprofessional collaboration, resilience-building strategies, and integrated approaches to enhance compassionate and equitable healthcare delivery. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: None.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.