Absent bystanders and cognitive dissonance: a comment on Timmins & de Vries

Abstract

Timmins & de Vries are more sympathetic to my editorial than other critics, but they take issue with the details. They doubt whether the bystander phenomenon applies to Mid Staffs nurses; they believe that cognitive dissonance is a better explanation of why nurses fail to behave compassionately; and they think that I am 'perhaps a bit rash' to conclude that 'teaching compassion may be fruitless'. In this comment, I discuss all three points. I suggest that the bystander phenomenon is irrelevant; that Timmins & de Vries give an incomplete account of cognitive dissonance; and that it isn't rash to propose that educating nurses 'for compassion' is a red herring. Additionally, I comment on the idea that I wish to mount a 'defence of healthcare staff'.

Keywords: Bystander apathy; Clinically preventable deaths; Cognitive dissonance; Compassion; Francis; Social psychology.