Compassion Fatigue Analysis

. This exploratory study used a cross sectional survey method (Hopper, Craig, Janvir, Wetsel, Reimels, Anderson, Greenvilee & Clemson, 2010, p. 422). Compassion satisfaction and fatigue subscales were measured using the Professional Quality of Life, using ProQOL R-IV instrument (Hopper, et al. 2010, p. 423). Despite study limitations which were small sample size, authors concluded that recognising the signs and symptoms, and identifying best practice interventions and raising awareness, will lead to the development of ongoing support programs for hospital nurses (Hopper, et al., 2010, p. 427).

physical and mental exhaustion that occurs as a gradual result of working in hostile and

Health caregivers are the group of people mostly at risk of developing compassion fatigue. Most of the times, compassion fatigue may be as a result of the situations the care providers encountered and the pain they feel for their patients. One of the vital element of healthcare is providing a compassionate care. Compassion is defined as being aware of other people suffering, and desire to help to them reduce the suffering (Ruysschaert, 2009). Compassion fatigue is seen as a form of burnout that affect the health care provider which manifest itself as physical, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion (Lynch & Lobo, 2012). The four major factors that can lead to compassion fatigue are, giving others too much caring and not enough care to self, unresolved past trauma, inability to control stress at work, and lack of satisfaction in the work (Ruysschaert, 2009). Compassion fatigue occurs when the caregivers are milked of their sense of wellbeing, comfort, their purpose in life, strength and all the good qualities they have. It is important for those that caring for others to also pay attention to their own needs. Taking care of your own needs means that you will be healthy and therefore be more able to care for others. The caregiver needs to be able to recognize and discuss compassion in order to avoid it.

While working in an emergency department (ED), nurses are expected to show compassion even when they are exhausted? Over tired? Over worked? Fatigued? The purpose of this evidence-based practice (EBP) project was to educate ED nurses on compassion fatigue (CF) risk factors, causes, and symptoms as well as assist them in its identification among each other and within themselves. Further, the project sought to provide nurses with skills in order to prevent CF. A two-hour workshop consisting of a PowerPoint presentation was implemented in a busy emergency department on the coast of NJ. Teaching nurses about compassion fatigue and ways in which to alleviate and prevent it were stressed. Self-regulation and self-care practices were introduced using interactive activities. Over the next four weeks, emails were sent reiterating self-care and self-regulatory techniques. A Pretest-posttest design used the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) measure to determine if burnout and secondary traumatic stress (both components of CF) and compassion satisfaction improved from the workshop. A comparative means analysis showed a decline in CF.

When a counselor or Therapist work in agencies they need have a wellness plan in place to prevent these types of symptoms from being over worked with limited support available to delegate other responsibilities of their workload to others. Since agencies may put the counselor or psychotherapist at a higher risk due to emotional exhaustion. A state of isolation and detachment causes a person to experience compassion fatigue when counselors or psychotherapists constantly interact with clients who experience distress. Compassion fatigue impede on a counselor’s empathy which causes them to extreme

Occasionally, a major disaster strikes people with whom the viewer in an industrialised country can personally identify without difficulty. Jonathan Benthall (1993) suggests that Western media can at times be preoccupied by the fate of a ‘single, identified person such as a boy who has fallen down a well in Italy, or examples such as hostages, hijack victims, or small children whose lives could be saved by expensive advanced surgery’ [p.196]. Although the literature on what motivates charitable giving is relatively sparse, a series of recent studies in decision psychology have produced some interesting findings that support Benthall’s statement. Small and Lowenstein (2007) conducted a field experiment that demonstrated when asked to contribute

In the field of medicine, there is large debate over something known as “compassion fatigue.” Some say it exists while others claim it doesn’t. I believe the reason people debate the idea of compassion fatigue being a reality is due to a misunderstanding in how compassion fatigue manifests.

When one thinks about nursing, caring, empathy, and compassion come to mind. There exists a link, an unbreakable union, for nurses that "compassion fatigue is the cost of caring for others in pain" (Boyle, 2015, p. 49). Compassion fatigue (CF) and its impact on nurses are predominating problems in various Emergency Departments (ED). Nurses perform a number of procedures throughout the day; however, the essential item that they deliver the utmost is themselves (Harris & Quinn-Griffin, 2015). Nurses provide care, succor, kindness, and tenderness to patients, families, other nurses; support to doctors and advanced practitioners, and convey directions to medical technicians, nursing assistants, and other staff every day. Eventually, the nurse can have their internal well of compassion come up empty, leaving them with CF. Simply stated, CF is the inability for nurses to nurture patients due to secondary traumatic stress disorder (Hinderer et al., 2014). This study explores what is compassion fatigue and ways to alleviate it and prevent it from taking away the love of nursing.

Compassion fatigue, sometimes called secondary trauma, is when an individual is around a person’s/people’s trauma so that that they themselves begins to be impacted emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and/or relationally. A person can also experience a form of compassion fatigue, known as vicarious trauma, when a traumatic event doesn’t happen to them directly but they do witness the event. Individuals like caregivers, doctors, counselors, social workers, chaplains, etc. are very susceptible to compassion fatigue because in their line of work caring for individuals who have been traumatized is come place.

In module one, I found Eric Scalise’s lecture on “Managing the High Cost Care” very helpful, particularly when he discussed Compassion Fatigue. Compassion Fatigue, also referred to as secondary or vicarious trauma, is when is when a person has not experienced a traumatic event directly but are around individuals who have so frequently that they, themselves, are impacted emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and/or relationally. Secondary trauma can also happen to those who witness a traumatic event happening to others.

Additionally, the study found that a high patient to nurse ratio resulted in greater emotional exhaustion and greater job dissatisfaction amongst nurses. Each additional patient per nurse was associated with a 23% increase in the likelihood of nurse burnout, and a 15% increase in the likelihood of job dissatisfaction. Moreover, 40% of hospital nurses have burnout levels exceeding the normal level for healthcare workers, and job dissatisfaction among hospital nurses is four times greater than the average for all US workers. 43% of nurses involved in this study that reported job dissatisfaction intended to leave their job within the upcoming year. (Aiken et al.)

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

Figley (2002a) defined “Compassion Fatigue” as a sense of helplessness and confusion around an emotional investment in helping those who are suffering. Compassion Fatigue has been linked to 10 variables. Starting variable begins with Empathic Ability, the ability to notice the pain of others. Following with Empathic Concern, noticing the pain of others and wanting to help the other person. Thirdly is Exposure to the client, the more time face to face with a consumer. Consecutively follows Empathic Response – taking the steps and making an effort to help reduce or alleviate the suffering of the consumer through understanding. Afterward becomes Compassion Stress, the stress one feels from the additional empathy towards another. Sixth is

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.

However, they are contributing attributes to compassion fatigue. Since the 1980’s, burnout has been a topic researched and impacts three elements, emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and professional inefficacy (Garcia-Izquierdo, Meseguer de Pedro, Soler Sanchez and Isabel Rios-Risquez, 2018). This mental distress leads to substandard care, putting the safety of a patient at risk. Additionally, nurses who suffer from this syndrome, experience poor quality of life and compromised personal health. In like manner, secondary traumatic stress can also exacerbate manifestations of compassion fatigue. “STS is a multifaceted state of exhaustion and dysfunction in which employees take on an emotional strain and burden and suffer themselves,” (Syed Muhammad Imran Haider, Yaqoob, & Saeed, 2017, p 314). Routinely exposed to traumatic situations as a result of caregiving, puts an emotional strain on the nurse causing them to suffer themselves. With this, work place environments are equally fundamental when completing a complete study of compassion