Compassion, communication, and the perception of control: a mixed methods study to investigate patients' perspectives on clinical practices for alleviating distress and promoting empowerment during awake craniotomies.

Compassion, communication, and patient perception of control were critical in mitigating intraoperative distress. Clinical practice recommendations with implications for all clinicians involved in patient care during awake craniotomies are provided. Use of these interventions and strategies to reduce distress are important to holistic patient care and patient experiences of care and may improve the likelihood of optimal brain mapping procedures to improve clinical outcomes during awake craniotomies.