Professional Practice in Health: Towards an Essential Integration of Vocation, Ethics and Social Skills. A systematic review

Abstract

Background: Contemporary healthcare practice, marked by technological advances and increasing complexity, requires care beyond mere technical competence. Vocation, professional ethics, and social skills, such as empathy and assertiveness, are fundamental pillars of comprehensive, person-centred care.

Objectives: This systematic literature review analysed the existing scientific literature on the interrelationship between vocation, ethics, and social skills (with an emphasis on empathy, assertiveness, and compassion) in healthcare professionals. The aim was to identify the most relevant findings and their implications for training and professional practice.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. The search was carried out in March 2025 on the EBSCOhost platform (accessing 23 databases), using key terms related to vocation/purpose, healthcare professions, and social/emotional skills. Eligibility criteria were applied to select articles published in peer-reviewed academic journals, with full text available in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. Information from the included studies was extracted and synthesised narratively and through thematic categorisation.

Results: Of 947 identified records, 24 studies met all the inclusion criteria. Qualitative analysis of these articles identified seven main thematic categories: 1) Vocation and Professional Motivation; 2) Educational Interventions and Models; 3) Ethics, Spirituality and Humanisation of Care; 4) Burnout, Self-Care and Resilience; 5) Cultural and Sociological Aspects; 6) Tensions between Technology and Human Values; and 7) Theoretical/Conceptual Studies. These findings highlight the interdependence of the constructs studied and their multifaceted impact on healthcare practice.

Conclusion: Vocation, ethics, and social skills are interconnected and essential pillars in healthcare professions, whose development and maintenance depend on a complex interaction of individual, educational, systemic, and contextual factors. Although vocation acts as a strong initial motivator, its persistence requires a deep sense of meaning, self-care strategies, resilience and a work and training environment that actively recognises and supports the well-being of professionals. Comprehensive educational approaches are needed that deliberately cultivate these dimensions, addressing the tension between technological advances and fundamental human values, to ensure ethical, competent, humanised and sustainable professional practice.