Join Dr. Bonnie Clipper and Lydel Wright, a Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation Fellow, as they discuss how serendipitous this is the Year of the Nurse as nurses lead through empathy, innovation and intention.

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Taofiki Gafar-Schaner, Co-Founder of Frontier Health & Resources and 2020 ANA Innovation Award winner, chats with Dr. Bonnie Clipper about how nurses are the agents of change, especially in these challenging times. Great tips on how speaking the truth to ourselves and others and being self-aware can help us make the world better.

There’s more to explore in Wambi world! Click here to subscribe and keep your pulse on what we’re doing in the healthcare engagement space with thought leaders and the inspiring realm of employee recognition and gratitude.

Ashley Eddings
Manager of Clinical Support at Wambi

We are now almost five months into the COVID-19 global pandemic and the virus is still very real and very present. As a wife and daughter of healthcare workers, someone who has worked in healthcare for a decade, and New Yorker, I’m elated to know that we’ve flattened the curve, but I am wholly aware that we must remain diligent to stop the spread. Many states are seeing record-number increases in virus cases and hospitals and staff continue to be taxed by the influx of patients. If we’re honest, the last four months have looked rather bleak in terms of eradicating the virus.

COVID-19 swiftly and abruptly took over our daily lives as we once knew it. The more people I speak to, the more I realize that none of us were truly prepared for this reality we’re now living in. People are scared and unnerved by the unknowns of the virus and what the future will look like. People have lost and continue to lose loved ones to COVID-19 and are grieving. Essential workers, including our healthcare workers, feel stretched thin and are emotionally drained. Employees are fearfully trickling back into physical workplaces instead of the safety of their homes, while others have lost employment because of the pandemic. And even with some re-openings, many events we hold dear are being postponed or canceled altogether. There is a lot of loss, anxiety, confusion, fear, and instability that everyone can identify with at some level. Knowing this, consider the following question: “How can I make the load lighter for someone and be a light for them given the times we’re in?” One way we can do so is with empathy. It is free, and it is powerful.

Placing ourselves in the proverbial shoes of another can be difficult to do for some. However, research shows the benefits of doing so. Cherry (2020) explains that:

“Listening to others, engaging in acts of service, observing the empathetic actions of others, and imagining yourself in another person’s situation are all strategies that can help build empathy” (para. 6).

In these challenging times, people want to be heard and know that someone else simply cares.

Consider the following five ways we can practice empathy (Cherry, 2020):

1. Stay connected: Social distancing has caused many to feel isolated. Without the physical presence of loved ones and friends, it can feel lonely, even with advanced technologies. However, when we reach out to others, perhaps in non-traditional ways such as a handwritten letter, it can be just what we need to feel connected in a greater capacity.
2. Be aware: The general reality that we can all accept is that we are experiencing life right now in a pandemic. Nonetheless, everyone has been impacted differently during these times. Employment, finances, childcare, schooling, and the like, have been significantly impacted, yet not everyone has experienced each impact firsthand. Finding ways to be there for someone who is struggling in a specific area, even if you cannot relate directly, may be the encouragement they need to keep going. Be aware that everyone is dealing with something and learn how you can best show empathy and support.
3. Be kind: Tensions and emotions are undoubtedly high, and everyone deals with stress and uncertainty differently. We must extend kindness and compassion to others and to ourselves. COVID-19 continues to test us all. Being kind is a surefire way to ease the pressure.
4. Help: One of the best ways to stay connected, look outwardly, use awareness, and extend kindness is to look where you can help. There are many ways in which one can help during these unprecedented times. If you are in the position to do so, consider making a meal for an elderly neighbor or an essential worker. Offer to help a vulnerable loved one with their errands so they don’t have to risk venturing out. Write a note of gratitude to someone who is having a particularly difficult time. See a need and meet the need if it is in your ability to do so.
5. Allow for vulnerability: Rebecca Metter, CEO of Wambi, explains that COVID-19 has “created a shared experience of vulnerability around our basic need of feeling safe. This has equipped the general population with the ability to now truly feel compassion for others who are met with challenges around their own most critical basic needs and, as a result, fostered an environment which is accepting of people sharing their own feelings of vulnerability”. Since the pandemic, more and more people are beginning to share raw, honest feelings and can be vulnerable with one another. The adage, “we’re all in this together”, couldn’t be truer as everyone has been affected in some way. Allow yourself and others the space for vulnerability during these times. We could all benefit from openness and bearing with one another.

When you finish reading this, contemplate ways in which you can practice empathy with your colleagues, loved ones, and even yourself. Displaying empathy is something that is bound to brighten even the most uncertain times we’re living in. It could be the positive shift you and someone else need while continuing to navigate the road ahead.

Cherry, K. (2020). How to practice empathy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-practice-empathy-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-4800924

Metter, R. (2020, April 24). Email with Metter.