A World Without Empathy: The Devastating Effects of Nurses Without Heart

AI seems to be the rage these days. Just about every Tom, Dick, and Harry predicts that machines will eventually take over and replace most of human labor for the sake of efficiency. And while that still seems like a long ways off, it won’t hurt to think about how that kind of future maps out with our current reality.

So ngayong buwan ng pagibig ❤️, naisip namin how the healthcare system would look like if you took out the main thing that makes it work—compassion. And before we contemplate robot nurses 🤖👩🏻‍⚕️, why not start with nurses who acted like robots 👩🏻‍⚕️🤖? So the scenario is, we’d have nurses that would turn off the emotional setting in their heads and instead they would focus entirely on doing their job as efficiently as possible. Any thoughts on what would this look like? 🤔

A world without compassion in healthcare would be a cold and terrifyingly quiet place. For nurses, it would mean simply going through the motions of their job without any emotional connection to their patients. You get in and you get out. There must be eye contact though, but you’re looking at someone that only sees you back as a piece of meat in the assembly line. The lack of compassion would have far-reaching effects on patients, their families, and the healthcare system as a whole.

Without compassion, nurses would see patients as nothing more than a set of symptoms and diagnoses to be treated. Compassion requires an emotional connection and an understanding of another person's feelings and experiences.

While machines can process vast amounts of data and perform complex tasks with speed and accuracy, they cannot replicate the human qualities of compassion and empathy. When the machine says (enter robot 🤖 voice), “kumusta po kayo Lola..dit dit dutdut?” (emphasis mine), you can respond nonchalantly and hide your laugh or inis, and the AI would accept that as an affirmative. But a human nurse asking that would receive a more honest response, “medyo okay lang ako hija”. What transpires after in both scenarios are worlds apart. And I’m betting that the more compassionate interaction wins.

Likewise, nurses who did not show any compassion would not take the time to get to know their patients as individuals or to understand the unique challenges and struggles they may be facing. As a result, patients would feel dehumanized, disconnected, and afraid. 😟🤖

Ang pagmamalasakit ay isang mahalagang bahagi ng trabaho ng mga nars. It helps them understand their patients and it gives the right amount of push and pull in every situation, knowing when the patient requires urgent care or when the patient just needs someone to be there.

Without compassion, patients may be more likely to feel isolated and alone, and may experience more anxiety, depression, and stress. Patients who are in the hospital are emotionally vulnerable and not having the required dose of compassion to handle such cases, may result to patients that are less likely to follow their treatment plans or to engage in healthy behaviors, leading to poorer health outcomes and longer hospital stays.

Reducing a few minutes here and there may increase efficiency, but at what cost?

The absence of compassion in machines limits their ability to fully understand and respond to human needs. For example, in healthcare, a machine may be able to accurately diagnose a patient's condition, but it cannot provide the emotional support and reassurance that a human healthcare provider can.

So would streamlining healthcare with machines lead to a better experience? Maybe. Maybe not. The only thing I know is that the experience in a world like that would be vastly different from the one we have now. Sure, the nurses we have currently whether they are from the Philippines or from somewhere else, are imperfect and inefficient at best, but at the very least, they care, genuinely and wholeheartedly. They may not have the brainpower of the entire internet in their heads, but they have the capacity to feel the pain of the other person, and that should count for something.

Without compassion, nurses will be less likely to advocate for their patients and to provide the emotional support and care that patients need. This will lead to a lack of trust between patients and healthcare providers, and may will in patients feeling ignored, unheard, and devalued.

Moreover, a lack of compassion in healthcare would have broader systemic effects. It would perpetuate a culture that prioritizes profits and productivity over patient care and wellbeing. It would also contribute to burnout and high turnover rates among healthcare workers, as nurses and other healthcare providers struggle to find meaning and purpose in their work.

In short, a world without compassion in healthcare would be a bleak and impersonal place. Regardless of what the future holds, it is our duty to bring compassion and empathy into our work, to see our patients as individuals with unique needs and experiences, and to advocate for their wellbeing. It’s okay to be emotional, to be frustrated, to want change, to joke around with staff, and to be you. The goal of our calling is not to be a flawless cog in the machine, but to be impactful, in the most human way possible. ❤️