Compassion“is an empathetic emotional response to another person’s pain or suffering that moves people to act in a way that will either ease the person’s condition or make it more bearable (Kanov, Maitlis, Worline, Dutton, Frost, & Lilius, 2003). The action component of compassion distinguishes it from empathy (von Deitze & Orb, 2000), which is a passive, feeling state (Davis, 1994).” (Lilius, Worline, Dutton, Kanov, Frost, & Maitlis, 2003).

The report identified compassionate leadership as being of critical importance to the mental health and wellbeing of nursing and midwifery staff. The report was underpinned by the ABC Framework of Core Needs to support an approach to compassionate leadership (West et al, 2020).

Nurse and midwives have three core work needs that must be met to ensure wellbeing and motivation at work, and to minimise workplace stress: autonomy, belonging and contribution. The book is not trying to wash away facts or crimes, but to give the benefit of the doubt and think about each individual as a person. Because not everyone who does something bad / is accused of doing something that's frowned upon in our society / a crime is a monster. It might feel that way, especially when emotions are high and the media uses words as "monster", "psychopath", "sociopath" etc, to describe someone accused of something that goes against society's norms.

To complement this framework, the report also recommends changes to culture and leadership across nursing and midwifery through Compassionate Leadership (West et al, 2017). NHS People Promise For leadership to be compassionate, it must also be inclusive. Compassion blurs the boundaries between self and other, promoting belonging, trust, understanding, mutual support and, by definition, inclusion ( West 2021). This creates an inclusive, psychologically safe environment in which diversity in all forms is valued and team members can contribute creatively and enthusiastically to team performance.The review team gathered evidence through a literature review, secondary analysis of quantitative data, focus groups with nursing and midwifery staff and semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from across the four UK countries. The interviews were conducted with nursing and midwifery staff at a range of levels of seniority, representative bodies and royal colleges, government departments in each UK country, regulators and improvement bodies, and workforce leaders at organisational, regional and national levels. Meeting people’s core needs at work is important in supporting their wellbeing and motivation. Compassionate leaders constantly strive to understand and meet the core needs of the people they work with ( West 2021). Develop and support effective multidisciplinary teamworking for all nursing and midwifery staff across health and care services. Key recommendation 5: Culture and leadership

Nurture and sustain just, fair and psychologically safe cultures and ensure equity, proactive and positive approaches to diversity and universal inclusion. Key recommendation 3: Work conditions and working schedules

Given the increasing complexity of delivering health and care, chronic work overload and additional pressures created by the Covid pandemic in health and care, it is vital for leaders to place a high priority on supporting the health and wellbeing of people at work. Introduce mechanisms for nursing and midwifery staff to shape the cultures and processes of their organisations and influence decisions about how care is structured and delivered.