ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the need for compassion in healthcare, and examines the ways of developing this personal quality. In compassion, the world of feelings meets the world of action. The chapter looks at how suffering can benefit the individual if it helps to develop a sense of compassion for others. Suffering can cause loneliness and silence, and compassion drives others towards us in our hour of need. The chapter argues that to strive to cultivate compassion for the suffering of others is a noble and rewarding commitment. The closeness of physical bodies is perhaps most apparent in the field of nursing and it is here that the grace of a mother and baby is recalled. Grace is a gift, and it stems from the commitment to help our patients to the best of our abilities.
