Burnout And Compassion Fatigue: A Qualitative Study

Compassion fatigue is widely known in the health care profession. Nurses working overtime and long working days to provide care for the patient and the patient’s families are a continuous stress on a nurse’s emotional and physical well-being especially if the nurse is providing the patient with end of life care as this contributes to both physical and mental work. Vital

When choosing to pursue a career in the health care field, most enter the workplace with the desire to help and provide care for patients who are critically ill (Lombardo & Eyre, 2011). Far too often, these health professionals who were once sympathetic and caring become victims of compassion fatigue (Lombardo & Eyre, 2011). As a working health professional it is ones duty to compassionately care for the sick, wounded and traumatized patients, which involves being exposed daily to the patient’s pain, suffering and trauma (Coetzee & Klopper, 2010). Experiencing this type of trauma first hand is an un-recognized side effect of being a health care professional (Briscoe, 2014). It is easy to get wrapped up in patients, their

A person’s current life’s circumstances, history, coping style and personality type all determine how compassion fatigue will impact them. If a person is encountering any other stress outside work, then that person is highly likely to experience compassion fatigue, on the other hand a person who is not experiencing any outside stressors may not arrive at that final stage in the process of CF. Study have shown that a person’s history affects the way in which he/she is affected by traumatic events. Psychologies implemented a theory in which variables, measure exposure to stressful events; the survey inquired about a number of negative life events (e.g., getting divorced, having problems at work) that could have happened

I believe anyone involved in the medical field needs the information about compassion fatigue due to its importance. It affects everyone involved in the health care field including all staff, patients, and even the organization itself. I believe not only the clinical staff but also the administrative staff should have yearly mandatory in-services on the subject of compassion fatigue. I also believe it is important for the board members to have all of the information on compassion fatigue, because organizational symptoms include high absenteeism, lack of vision for future of the company, negativism towards management, lack of flexibility among staff members, inability of staff to respect deadlines, inability of staff to complete assignments,

When dealing with high levels of stress or difficult situations it has been found that ‘avoidance coping’ predicted poor mental health in nurses and effective coping strategies and problem solving was positively related to satisfaction and good health (Mark & Smith, 2011, p. 04). The potential for burnout can be reduced by using coping strategies to build resilience (Mohamed, 2016, p. 01). A 2016 study followed a group of new nurses out in the workplace to investigate how they handled their role expectations, stress levels and their techniques for preventing burnout or compassion fatigue. The study revealed three main themes in their resilience building techniques. These themes were: developing supportive relationships, embracing positivity and reflecting on difficult situations and demonstrating the ability to learn from the experiences and move forward. (McDermid, Peters, Daly, & Jackson, 2016, p. 01). Developing resilience to the stressors of nursing life is important in preventing compassion fatigue and burning out. Separating work life, maintaining positive thinking and becoming more flexible are all processes in developing resilience and a healthy work lifestyle (Kim & Windsor, 2015, p. 01). Another skill in preventing psychological distress when dealing with difficult healthcare circumstances such as dying patients, is developing ‘professional’ or ‘optimal attachment’ (Skovholt, 2011, p. 26). This where the practitioner experiences the world of their client but is not overwhelmed. It requires the nurse to still be emotionally involved but still emotionally distant. This skill can take years of practice to perfect as learning how to regulate the level of emotional attachment required for a specific patient takes time and patience (Skovholt, 2011, p. 26). Another key feature to building resilience is

summary, a fair amount of research has been conducted on burnout and compassion fatigue. it is important to understand the individual factors that lead to the development of burnout and compassion fatigue. Another purpose is to understand whether or not the experience of STS is limited only to those who have direct contact with individuals who are experiencing trauma symptoms. Additionally, most literature that discusses coping with compassion fatigue focuses on self-care techniques rather than on an effective style of cognitive appraisal. Common assumptions are that effective coping styles for healthcare workers will generalize to the mental health field. The present study also aims to identify a coping profile indicating whether or not a

I have never submitted a summer projects application and would love to sit down and "pick your brain." I am thinking about submit a summer project on building a curriculum for GCC occupational programs on compassion and fatigue. The goal is to prepare students for the demands of highly stressful careers offered at GCC (e.g., Behavioral Health Sciences, Nursing, Emergency Medical Technician, Law Enforcement Operations, Developmental Disabilities Specialist, and Fire Science). The compassion and fatigue curriculum would include teaching students how to building resiliency against secondary & post-traumatic stress and learn the necessary skills to prevent burnout.

Compassion fatigue is a problem in caregiving professions, including nursing, and even more specifically critical care nursing. The effects can be detrimental to the nurse and to the care provided to patients. While attempting to enhance a patient’s quality of life, nurses may not even realize that their own quality of life may be at stake. (pg 17).

As caregivers, nurses in acute care settings are at higher risk for burnout and stress associated with their role than those in other occupations. Compassion fatigue (CF) and compassion satisfaction (CS) were examined in this study. The participants of this study were acute care nurses across multiple specialties in a hospital-based setting. (Kelly, Runge, & Spencer, 2015)

This study explores the prevalence of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue among emergency nurses and nurses in other selected inpatient specialties.

Counselor impairment can be caused by multiple factors. Vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and professional burnout associated with impairment, because it can changes the way the counselor thinks and behaves in maladaptive ways (Newell, Gordon & MacNeil, 2010; Kadambi, 2004). All counselors have a legal and ethically responsibility to prevent this form happening (ACA, 2014; LPC Act, 2014; State of Oklahoma, 2007). Although there is some research on how to identified vicarious trauma, there is still a void cohesive preventive treatment compared to the need (Newell, Gordon & MacNeil, 2010). Professionally, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and professional burnout is high risk for affecting highly trained, previously competent counselors (ACA, 2014; LPC Act, 2014; State of Oklahoma, 2007). This issue should be at a high priority level for counselor, because it can change thinking processes (Newell, Gordon & MacNeil, 2010; Kadambi, 2004). Therefore, it can alter client’s care significantly. However, the counselors have to know the concepts associated with negate impairment and know preventive measures (ACA, 2014; LPC Act, 2014; State of Oklahoma, 2007).

Nurses have been taken care of wounded soldiers, victims of disasters and patients in hospitals, clinic and schools since the late 1800’s. Recently there has been concerns raised about nurses’ being burn-out emotionally and physically. According to Varcarolis (2013), nurses should be alert to compassion fatigue, which is the emotional effect that nurses may experience by being indirectly traumatized when trying to help people/clients experiencing traumatic stress. This is crucial that nurses and other caregivers take good care of themselves and develop an effective coping skills to deal with all the stress and other symptoms that accompany the job. Charity begins at home, therefore to ensure quality care for all our patients, nurses need

Nurses, always involved in patient care, sometimes experience detrimental effects with prolonged stress or “burnout” during their career throughout the years. Burnout is defined as an extended response to physical or emotional stressors. Some examples of these stressors are; memories of witnessing death, patient and family suffering, emotional stress of losing patients, feeling emotionally and physically drained, or emotional disconnect from staff which can all contribute to burnout. As a result, nurses can experience; exhaustion, anxiety, dissatisfaction and low capacity. Overall, burnout can have negative effects not just on the emotional and physical health of nurses but also on; patient satisfaction, outcomes and mortality of nurses and patients. Although, there are ways to reduce or prevent these negative effects of burnout from manifesting. For example, nurses can apply interventions to reduce these risks including; staff support, onsite counselors and psychiatrists for nurses and salary increases and reimbursement opportunities for nurses through clinical ladder programs. Nurses can also start by just saying no to certain requests, being aware of their tolerance level, by taking care of themselves and having fun outside of work. On the other hand, others do not think nursing burnout is fatal and nurses just need a break from their job to initiate change. Although, the issue of burnout is prevalent in nurse’s careers which need to be addressed more in society in

Choosing the career path of a pediatric nurse can be exceptionally rewarding, with that comes many trials and tribulations. This research paper will be discussing a pilot study done on compassion fatigue and burnout in nurses who work with children with chronic conditions and their families. The goal of this study was to identify the triggers, impacts, and coping strategies pediatric nurses use to manage compassion fatigue and prevent burnout. Compassion fatigue, meaning the natural behavior and emotional demands one experiences with helping or wanting to help a traumatized person, and burnout, the complete

This essay will discuss the significance of Lifelong Learning (LLL) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in relation to adult nursing. It has been suggested that LLL is too difficult to define, however it has been suggested that it is participated throughout life. It is important to discuss LLL, as it has many benefits within the healthcare system, as well as everyday life. This essay will explore reflection as a skill important to adult nurses, as this is vital in order to evaluate their own learning, which can encourage improvement of LLL. Reflection in action and on action can also influence the successful outcome of LLL. The attribute chosen to discuss will be self-motivation, due to the fact that this can lead to more