Compassion Fatigue Critique

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

The incidence of compassion fatigue is increasing due to the heavy responsibilities placed on nurses and other providers, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Compassion can be a limited resource, our system is rooted in cognitive networks that tire and need refueling (Carey, 2011). Healthcare workers spend more time charting than

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

The purpose of conducting a concept analysis is to divide the components of a concept into separate individual parts for evaluation and clarification. Analysis of the internal structure, defining aspects, characteristics and interrelationships to the other components can be achieved by conducting a concept analysis. The basic purpose is a process to discover the similarities and differences between concepts (Walker & Avant, 2005). The intent of the concept analysis on the subject of compassion fatigue is to evaluate compassion fatigue in nursing and to determine the current conceptual use in efforts to clarify the relevance to nurses. The aim is to identify how the concept is currently utilized and how it could potentially be utilized in the future.

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.

According to Coetzee and Hester (2010) compassion fatigue was adopted as a synonym for secondary traumatic stress disorder. The aim of their 2010 concept analysis of the topic was to further define compassion fatigue as it applies to the nursing practice. They describe the process of compassion fatigue from just simply discomfort to compassion stress and finally fatigue. (p.1) Their analysis describes how damaging compassion fatigue can be on a nurse’s ability to provide compassionate care. The information is vital to the field of nursing and the outcomes of our patients. Specifically, it plays an important role in my personal practice. It’s a nurse responsibility to provide compassion care for the ill. In the process nurses are exposed daily to their patient’s pain trauma, and their struggles. This and other factors such as unsafe work conditions can take a toll on nurses and their functionality.

New workers in the health care role are often excited, energetic, and ready to take on whatever comes at them. Little do they know compassion fatigue is nipping at their heels. Compassion fatigue is common among health care providers and consists of five major concepts. These five concepts are ambiguity, no-win situations, role overload, role conflict, and not being adequately recognized. Researching concepts of compassion fatigue looks at the nature and causes along with the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. To deal with and cope there needs to be strategies and resources that can be utilized to keep from burnout.

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

Based on their findings, without intervention, that will equate to a turnover every 2 to 5.4 years. Education and intervention is essential in the prevention of symptoms that lead to compassion fatigue. If education and intervention is not part of an institutions standard process, there will continue to be a high turnover rate in nursing, including Critical Care RN’s. Discussed below are some recent research studies that were conducted to determine the extent of compassion fatigue and interventions used to prevent compassion

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.

A cross-sectional study using survey methodology was undertaken to evaluate compassion fatigue, burnout, and compassion satisfaction among oncology social workers (Simon 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

Professional quality of life (PROQOL) version 5 by Beth Hudnall Stamm was used to measure these three subscales: compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and burnout among nurses. It is a five (5) point likert-scale (1 as Never, 2 as Rarely, 3 as Sometimes, 4as Often, and 5 as Very Often) that contains 30 items. The questionnaire was a refinement of the original Compassion Fatigue Self-Test developed by Charles Figley in the late 1980s and the collaboration of Figley and Stamm in 1988. The quality of life of professionals in terms of compassion satisfaction has an alpha scale reliability of .88, compassion Fatigue with 0.81 and burnout with 0.75. PROQOL is the most commonly used measure of the positive and negative effects of working with

Methods: fortuitousness nurses and nurses from three sordid particularly units part – choice participation into a cross-sectional survey. Participants completed a sociodemographic scheme then the expert Quality regarding life: Compassion Satisfaction then Fatigue Subscales, R-IV. Scale scores have been summed because of charity satisfaction, burnout, then favor fatigue because accident minister or in contrast including these about nurses’ n other specialties.

Mahoney, the researchers conducted a study to understand the experiences of undergraduate nurses and their reasons for burn out (2013). The study took place at The University of Deleware