To explore healthcare professionals' views of measuring compassionate care.

As part of a grounded theory study participants, who were healthcare professionals involved in the care of patients with type 2 diabetes, were invited to discuss the topic of compassionate care measurement through semi-structured interviews and focus groups.

Measuring compassionate care was regarded as problematic because of its complex nature. Categories identified in the data that reflect this difficulty include distinguishing compassionate care from other concepts, relying on informal indicators, making the subjective objective, incorporating external influences and putting a measurement tool to use.

Findings highlighted the complexities associated with measuring compassionate care, and how attempts to do this by managers could be problematic.