The nursing profession has often been dubbed as the backbone of the healthcare system because nurses are first in line when it comes to the patient’s medical care. Hence, nursing quality is one of the major factors that affects the well-being of the patient. Nurses and other healthcare professionals are expected to possess the characteristics of caring and empathy towards their patients. However, when there is too much care for patients and too little for one’s self, a negative effect to the overall health of the caregiver may develop. Additionally, nursing work is seen to be strenuous and challenging due to its need for specialization, complexity, and requirement to handle emergency situations (Benoliel et al., 1990; Su, 1993). Nurses, in effect, may feel overworked, underappreciated, frustrated and emotionally exhausted. These stressors that healthcare providers undergo are described by different terms including compassion fatigue, caregiver burnout and other related issues. In this paper, the nature of compassion fatigue and caregiver burnout are first defined and discussed. The symptoms as well as the coping strategies for these phenomena are then explained. In order to fully understand the problem on compassion fatigue and caregiver burnout, the definition of each as well as distinction between both should be discussed. Firstly, burnout is described differently from that of being depressed or overworked. It is a process wherein a person is in a state of mental fatigue, empty and drained of energy (Espeland, 2006). For Maslach (1982), individuals who interact with people on a daily basis are likely to experience burnout which is thought to be a syndrome of emotional fatigue, depersonalization and a reduced sense o... ... middle of paper ... ...Nursing Studies, 40, 807-827. Espeland, K. E. (2006). Overcoming burnout: how to revitalize your career. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 37(4), 178-184. Figley, C. R. (1995). Compassion fatigue: coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized. New York: Brunner-Mazel. Joinson, C. (1992). Coping with compassion fatigue. Nursing, 22(4), 116-121. Martin, B. (2002). Promoting a balance between personal health and professional responsibility. Chart, 99(5), 4-5. Maslach, C. (1982). Burnout: The cost of caring. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Portnoy, D. (2011). Burnout and compassion fatigue: Watch out for the signs. Health Progress, 47-50. Su, H. R. (1993). The study of job stressors and stress response of clinical nurses. Nursing Research, 1(1), 83-93. Wright, S. (2003). Feel the burn. Nursing Standard, 17(25), 25.
The hospital that I was working at did not have a specific policy about compassion fatigue. However, there are a number of professional documents and organizational policies that inform the discussion of compassion fatigue including the CNA code of ethics and the employment standards act. In the next few paragraphs I will discuss how each one informs the discourse of compassion fatigue.
Burnout is frequently found in the Human Services field due to its emotionally and mentally demanding nature. “According to experts, the causes of Burnout include heavy caseloads, unrealistic timeframes, low pay, and adverse working conditions.” In 1996, Burnout had become so prevalent that the National Association of Social Work felt the need to address it and added it to the NASW Code of Ethics. So what do we, as newcomers, need to be prepared for?
Radey, M., & Figley, C. R. (2007). The social psychology of compassion. Clinical Social Work Journal, 35(3), 207-214.
Nurses Joe and Sarah have been working in a medical surgical unit that has been experiencing a nursing shortage, which has led to an increase in the workload. Sarah has been feeling the physical effects of the stress and feels there is a lack of management support, while Joe experiences some feelings of being overwhelmed, but tries to use it as learning experiences. Joe has developed positive methods of coping, while Sarah is quickly heading towards burnout. Implications and Conclusions The information provided in the literature has great implications for practice in many units, including the writers. It is with great hopes that the research published can be presented to the committees on the unit in hopes that some of the workloads can be decreased to help with staffing and retention rates.
Compassion fatigue is a complex form of secondary traumatic stress often experienced by nurses and other health care professionals due to their stressful work environment. Compassion fatigue is extreme exhaustion that penetrates all aspects of one’s wellbeing, including the physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual aspects of life (Murphy-Ende, 2012). Dealing with children who are both chronically ill or in palliative care is known to be extremely stressful. Not only are nurses faced with dealing with the physical symptoms of their patients, they also must attend to their fragile emotional state and be of assistance to their anxious family members. Oncologic diagnoses can put a child and their family into turmoil. Since the nurse is the first, and most constant point of contact, they are often the ones who become responsible for ensuring well-being of the entire family throughout the ...
It is a negative emotional and physical response to the unfortunate situations that can arise in the profession of care giving. The “detrimental effects can include exhaustion, an inability to focus and a decrease in productivity, as well as unhappiness, self-doubt and loss of passion and enthusiasm” (Lester, 2010, p. 11). Compassion fatigue develops suddenly versus burnout which develops gradually (Boyle, 2011, p. 9). This abrupt onset of symptoms will hinder the nurse’s ability to develop a trusting and therapeutic relationship with the patients under their care.... ...
Primary caregivers are given an opportunity to take care of their loved ones; however, this job comes with a lot of stress and its consequences (Tsai, 2003). Primary caregivers take care of those with a chronic illness such as a family member or friend, are given a task that is so immense that it induces a lot of stress. In the previous decades, many research articles have developed studies which focused on stressors that were associated with the task of being the primary caregiver; yet, a theory surrounding this topic has not been developed until the early 2000s. Tsai (2003) developed the Theory of Caregiver Stress based on the Roy Adaptation Model to identify the caregiver’s response, perceptions, and adaptations to the stress and burden that primary caregiver’s experience.
The purpose of this study is to help find a cure to burn out. The word cure is used here because it is an illness. Burnout like many other illness out there has symptoms, as mentioned earlier burnout can cause many issues like physiological problems, sleep disorder and overall feeling of fatigue. Finding a way to end this affliction is key to everyone in the social work field and the ones affected by social workers.
Researchers have found compassion fatigue to be and occupational hazard and individuals who are in a helping professions are most likely to deal with the psychological stressor that stimulate compassion fatigue. There are many reasons for which helping professionals can develop compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma. These are described in Saakvitne and Pearlman’s book “Transforming the Pain” (1996). Also, Compassion fatigue can be easily be triggered by individuals who do not carefully use time management, by no creating time for their selves while helping others. Becoming Burnout is very easy when trying to cater other individuals. For example if there is an individual who works in the position of a parole officer they could become traumatized
Majority of nurses start their jobs being excited and eager to help patients physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. These nurses intend to provide the best patient care available. Unfortunately, these caring nurses may soon become victims of the continuing stress of meeting all of the needs of patients and their families. This stress can lead men and women in the nursing field to quickly find themselves experiencing compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue has been defined as a combination of physical, emotional, and spiritual depletion associated with caring for patients (Lombardo & Eyre, 2011). Often times people confuse this concept with burnout. A nurse must be both compassionate and
Compassion fatigue is defined as “The emotional residue or strains of exposure to working with those suffering from the consequences of traumatic events” (The American Institute of Stress, n.d.). Compassion fatigue occurs when healthcare workers, especially those who work with patients one-on-one daily, feel the emotional stress of their jobs starting to wear on them. For example, a person who works with a cancer patient and watches that patient worsen and finally pass away, may experience great emotional pain. Dealing with stressful situations over time could also cause compassion fatigue. One way to prevent compassion fatigue is through implementation of Schwartz rounds. “Schwartz rounds are not 'problem solving'. Instead, the focus is on the emotional experiences of staff caring for patients and they allow staff to explore, in an environment that is safe and confidential, situations that confront them.” (Thompson, A. (2013). Schwartz rounds are like support groups for healthcare workers. They allow healthcare providers to share their struggles as caregivers and solve their strugg...
Caregiving is an essential and very necessary aspect of the medical field. However, caregiving is also one of the most strenuous and stressful positions that exists. The patients require constant supervision, precise care and an extremely high level of patience, tolerance and skill. Eventually, this type of care begins to take a physical, emotional and financial toll on the caregiver. Because of the adverse effects of this profession, the Theory of Caregiver Stress was developed to aid those working in this difficult profession.
Nursing profession, with its enormous physical and emotional demands, naturally predisposes nurses to compassion fatigue (Mulligan, 2004). Moreover, nurses can protect themselves from compassion fatigue by engaging in practices to discover what is most important to them in life and set intentions to live a way that reflects their inner values.
Compassion fatigue is the combination of physical, emotional, and spiritual depletion associated with caring for patients in significant emotional pain and physical distress (Anewalt, 2009; Figley, 1995). It is something that can happen to any nurse being overwhelmed in one or more areas of life and/or work. There are multiple ways a nurse can cope with compassion fatigue, and the article gives two great case studies. The first is of the reactive nurse who ultimately runs away from her issues but never truly fixes why she had the fatigue at all. The second is of a proactive nurse who used the resources provided to pull out of the fatigue and ended up in a better position because of it. Some keys points are made about what compassion fatigue is truly made of and how to set it apart from burnout. The key is to look at the symptoms to assist in differentiating compassion fatigue from burnout which were explained in detail in a table in the article. Once it is proven the issue is compassion fatigue interventions can occur to help pull the nurse out of that slump. This includes things available to the nurse such as Employee Assistance Programs which have many classes offered for both work and home life. Another idea is to create a comfortable, relaxing environment in a designated place on the nursing unit (Lombardo, 2011). Also having new nurse support groups within the new nurse graduate programs in hospitals to give them a chance to reflect along the way is useful. Compassion fatigue, as stated in the article, needs to be studied in its entirety and the specific characteristics and experiences need to be identified as well as what personal qualities and traits might provide protection (Lombardo, 2011).
Nurses are called to care for patients with respect, responsibility, love, empathy and compassion. Expressed by Kate Sheppard, “nurses who feel satisfied with their work feel fully engaged, energized, and a great deal of satisfaction from providing excellent care,” (2015). This care is often compromised by secondary traumatic stress and burnout, both a consequence unique to those in the health care field. Compassion fatigue, a complex phenomenon, is a modern concept rarely seen outside of nursing. In developing a theory, concept analysis is essential to the nursing profession. This concept analysis was guided by the professional quality of life (ProQOL) model, a conceptual design of compassion fatigue developed by Beth Stamm