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Abstract Background: Compassionate care is an international priority of healthcare, particularly for nursing. Studying this phenomenon could provide a deep understanding of compassionate care from the perception of Egyptian nurses. Aim of study: measure nurses’ and elderly patients’ perception of compassionate care in Beni-Suef city. Subjects and Methods: The study was carried-out in Beni-Suef University Hospital, General Hospital, as well as Continuing/Long-term care and Home Health Care (HHC) services using a descriptive cross-sectional design on one hundred forty nurses and one hundred forty elderly under their care. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire with the compassionate care scale for nurses and an interview questionnaire with a compassionate care scale for elderly. Results: Nurses’ median age was 28.5 years, 63.6% females, and 68.6% with diploma degree. In total, 82.9% of the nurses had high compassionate attitude, 51.4% had adequate practice, and 59.3% had high confidence in compassionate care, and these were influenced by nurses’ age, qualification, experience years, residence, and income. elderly’ median age was 65 years, 52.9% were females, and 77.9% were illiterate. In total, 82.9% of them had high opinions about compassionate care, and “understanding your problem” was their first priority. In ecologic analysis, a strong significant negative correlation was revealed between elderly’ scores of opinions and nurses’ attitude of compassionate care (r=-0.900). Conclusion and recommendations: Nurses’ attitude towards compassionate care is high but their practice and related confidence are low. The patients have high perception and opinions regarding compassionate care. In-service training programs for nurses are commended. Further research is suggested to evaluate the long-term effect of in-service training programs on nurses and patients. |