On the nature of suffering and the practice of nursing

Description: At the 12th Annual Suzanne Renée Leider Lecture on May 25, UCI Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing Dean Mark Lazenby, an advanced practice oncology nurse, delivered a powerfully moving presentation about the nature of suffering and compassion. Suffering, he says, is feeling disconnected from being alive. Nurses use symptom assessment to identify sources of suffering and deliver treatment with hands-on compassionate care. He differentiates chosen and wanted suffering (say the pain from training for a marathon), chosen but unwanted suffering (the pain marathon runners experience when they cannot finish) and unchosen and unwanted suffering (cancer).

AACN Domains: Communication; Compassionate Care

Format: Case Study

Audience: Baccalaureate Level; Graduate Level; Nursing Faculty

Cost: Free

Tips and Suggestions: Case study is an excellent way to describe and understand ethical considerations and challenges in practice. Could be used in teaching and discussion across health professionals such as in a journal club, or key reading. While this case study does not explicitly present a nursing perspective, a good learning activity might be to discuss how and when a nurse could have intervened and supported the goals of care discussion.

Citation: Lazenby, Mark. May 25, 2022. The 12th Annual Suzanne Renée Leider Lecture: On the nature of suffering and the practice of nursing. UUCI Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvTYAgKF1sg. Accessed 2 December 2022.