Compassion Fatigue As A Synonym For Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder

Compassion fatigue is the emotional residue from the exposure of hearing trauma stories over and over until your heart and head is full until the caller/client’s trauma becomes your experience too. You cannot hear story after story and remain unaffected. As your callers/clients experience a daily repetition of trauma, so will you .Being a witness to pain, loss, fear, terror or injustice that the caller/client is living through and has to endure will eventually effect all of us.

Some social workers that are experiencing compassion fatigue may carry their symptoms over to their clients and let it affect their job competency. This can consequently affect their ethical standing within the profession.

Health providers suffer from an emotional problem called compassion fatigue. Often times compassion fatigue occurs do to the situations encountered by health care professionals and the pain they feel for the patients they care for. One of the essential components of health care is providing care is compassion

The concept of this EBP change project is compassion fatigue as it relates to nurses working in an emergency department (ED) dealing with secondary trauma causing symptoms of compassion fatigue (CF). Compassion is defined as the empathetic awareness of another’s distress, united with a desire to alleviate it (Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, n.d.). Fatigue is the physical or mental depletion that can be the result of strain, overwork, or disease (The Free Medical Dictionary,

As nurses, it extremely important for us to have an understanding of mental health so we can decrease the stigma in the healthcare profession. There shouldn’t be a difference between a “psychiatric nurse” and a “general nurse”. Since over 50% of the population suffers from a mental illness, both professions should be equally educated and sensitive towards health care issues.

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

Healthcare providers are at increased risk for compassion fatigue (CF), which has also been called secondary traumatic stress, second hand shock syndrome, secondary stress reaction, and vicarious trauma (ABA, 2011). Compassion fatigue begins to become an issue when caregivers give too much of themselves to others and neglect to provide for their own needs. Neglecting one’s personal needs can be harmful, leading to destructive behaviors and patterns, such as over indulgence and increased sick calls. Over time the provider has a decreased ability to show compassion. This paper will discuss and describe compassion fatigue, warning signs of compassion fatigue, and discuss recovery options for those suffering from compassion fatigue.

Longitudinal data was collected to determine the efficacy of resilience program at three and six month intervals (Potter et al., 2013). The longitudinal data in the study reported statistically significant results of decreased overall compassion fatigue through implementation of a compassion fatigue intervention program (Potter et al., 2013). A pilot study of a compassion fatigue resiliency program with thirteen oncology nurses showed promising results. “The program interventions were

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

Compassion fatigue is a huge reality and according to Potter et al. (2013), long-term effects of compassion fatigue have negative impact on the health, well-being and performance of nurses involved. Jean Watson’s theory of caring said, true healing cannot be realized without caring therefore, compassion fatigue is a problem that does not only affect nurses, but goes a notch higher by also affecting the quality of care offered by compassion fatigue victims. Boyle (2011) observed that there is need for nurses to be compassionate and caring especially when providing care to patients, families or relatives. Slatten et al. (2011) noted that compassion fatigue is an occupational hazard among nurses involved (that is, professionals involved in helping others). Compassion fatigue is therefore, a significant problem affecting professional practice in nursing because Rosa (2014) stated that, being a successful caregiver requires a nurse to be in a position to find the meaning in what they do, remain committed and immersed in order to gain a sense of purpose. However, compassion fatigue stands as a barrier to realization of sense of purpose among

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.

Compassion represents an “acknowledgement of another’s suffering and is accompanied by the expression of a desire to ease or end that suffering.” (Van der Cingal, 2009, p. 124) This is a fundamental characteristic usually found in health care workers and nurses especially. In one twelve hour shift, a nurse’s job can change from taking vitals and administering medications to performing life saving measures

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

Compassion is a crucial aspect of nursing; it involves seeing the patients as more than just a medical problem. Patients look to nurses as a source of comfort to help them deal with their emotions and understand their medical problems. In Norway, a study was conducted to find the role of compassion in nursing and

Every health professional has a legal obligation to patients. Nurses as part of the health care team share an important role in the quality and safe delivery of patient care. They have the major responsibility for the development, implementation and continuous practice of policies and procedures of an organisation. However, nurses should deliver service excellence without compromising their welfare. Compassion fatigue (CF) experienced by nurses possessed major risk factors for poor quality of care. It is important for health care providers and employers to identify early signs of CF. It is also essential that caregivers engage in all level of self-care activities, learn to control their reactions to the pressures around them, be mindful of negative attitudes and reach out for help when needed. This paper will critically discuss the implications of CF on the mental health and well-being of registered nurses in the workforce and the relationship between self-care and resilience in the nursing context.