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Combating compassion fatigue
Research proposal on compassion fatigue amongst nurses
Research proposal on compassion fatigue amongst nurses
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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 …show more content…
I am compelled to help others in need. Mentally, I know it is not feasible to help everyone, but that does not stop me from trying. In addition, when my clients are in pain, I am also hurt because I have emotionally committed myself to each one of them. I must learn to establish borders to emotionally separate myself from my clients and their problems. I can be compassionate and empathize, but when my workday ends, it ends, and my personal life begins. When I feel stressed, I listen to my favorite music on my iPod or play my one of my favorite computer games. This is my way of zoning out and just forgetting about everything around me. It relieves my anxiety and the stress of the day, and it helps prevent burnout. In addition, I need to make sure I take time for me to be with friends and not forget to …show more content…
I now realize how important it is to be a good listener. I must listen carefully to each client to assess their needs and connect them to all available resources in the community. Before this class, it never occurred to me that patients have the right to play an active role of their healthcare and should be included in the recovery process. However, most importantly, I learned about dual relationships. The reason why I developed a passion for the Human Services field was my interaction with the amazing volunteers at my workplace. Every one of them has a developmental delay, but they have so much compassion for others that they volunteer in our kitchen. I have become friends with many of them, and because of this, it would be unethical for me to work for the same company that provides them with
Statistically, over 670,000 Americans are homeless with a growing number. 48 million people go to bed hungry every night. Although we do provide shelters and opportunities in America, millions of people are homeless worldwide. Even on a more minor level there are still hundreds homeless within hometowns. Everyday we encounter the homeless whether by seeing them holding their personal signs at stoplights, confronts with beggars, or viewing them from afar under bridges. In her essay titled “On Compassion”, writer Barbara Ascher uses rhetorical techniques detailing some of her personal homeless experiences within the city life, Asher does effectively use logos, pathos,
It can be related to feelings of hopelessness and lack of meaning, anxiety, decreased ability to concentrate, irritability, insomnia, emotional numbing, lack of empathy, and escapist activities (such a self-medicating with drugs and alcohol). This is in direct opposition to the idea that nurses would be responsive to an insightful of their clients needs. Dennis Portnoy wrote “Compassion fatigue was often triggered by patient care situations in which nurses believed that their actions would “not make a difference” or “never seemed to be enough”. He further elaborated in the article Burnout and compassion Fatigue that nurses who experienced this syndrome also did so because of systemic issues such as; overtime worked, high patient acuity, high patient census, heavy patient assignments, high acuity, overtime and extra workdays, personal issues, lack of energy and lack of experience (Portnoy, 2011). These issues, interfere with the nurses' ability to identify with the patient and to tune in to important issues and obscure symptoms. Once consideration is that nurses can use Orlando’s theory to identify and address their own needs and respond with the same level of consideration to their own needs in order to prevent a burn out
Within the two essays On Compassion by Barbara Lazear Ascher and On Dumpster Diving by Lars Eighner, the idea of living poor is presented as a central theme. Do earthly possessions and abundance of money really make you rich? Or in reality, are you really poor because you're focusing more on self-involvement rather than compassion and thoughtfulness towards other individuals? According to dictionary.com, the definition of poverty is the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor. Of these two essays, On Compassion is more effective to its purpose.
Radey, M., & Figley, C. R. (2007). The social psychology of compassion. Clinical Social Work Journal, 35(3), 207-214.
This accurately displays the need for compassionate nursing without the consequences of burnout. Nurses ultimately become burnt out because they give selflessly and expect nothing in return. Nurses often give so much; they forget to take time for themselves.
“We can’t turn away from a patient’s pain just because it’s difficult” (chapman, 2015, p. 88). I know the path of least resistance is taking a path of ignorance. Easy, is to ignore or neglect the true pain patients experience in times of crisis. As caregivers I believe we all want to heal others or we wouldn’t be in the field of nursing, but there are only handfuls willing to be present during the healing process because sharing one’s pain hurts. As a surgical nurse, I find being genuinely present takes hard work on my behalf, not only mentally but emotionally. On a unit where patient’s needs and conditions are changing at astonishing rates, being present requires mental strength in order slow down enough to recognize the value presence
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.... ...
Other techniques to reducing stress, is listening to music, pampering yourself a massage/spa day, talking it out to family/friends, baking/cooking, praying/meditating and even playing with your pet.
The pediatric oncology unit has become a heavily studied area for those interested in prevention of compassion fatigue, burnout, and identification of those character traits that offer increased resilience. Nurses are expected to maintain professionalism and appropriate work-life balance but this may become a difficult task on a unit where children have a chronic, intensive, and potentially life-ending condition. Nurses become close to the patient and their family and when death occurs they too may feel a great sense of intense grief and loss. The acknowledgment of this grief and the promotion of adequate self-care habits, work-life divisions, and the ability to recognize when help may be needed are amongst the most important means in prevention of burnout and compassion fatigue. In addition to utilization of positive coping skills by the nurse a responsibility by the organization is also necessary to prevent staff burnout and turnover. The organization is responsible for acknowledgement of a loss on the unit. Presentation of prompt and anonymous counseling services to everyone on the unit following a death and regularly on high-risk units is just one of the many ways an organization can continue to decrease the loss of good nurses to compassion fatigue and
Burnout in critical care nursing has been a longstanding, serious yet under recognized issue that has recently been magnified due to the nursing shortage. The key components of burnout include emotional exhaustion, depersonalization or detachment, and lack of personal accomplishment. These factors are closely interwoven and create a snowball effect which results in burnout. Emotional exhaustion stems from the stress placed on critical care nurses. Stress from patient acuity, heavy workload and responsibility, limited autonomy, ethical dilemmas, inadequate staffing ratios, and caring for patient’s families all contribute to emotional exhaustion (Epp, 2012, p. 26). In turn, emotional exhaustion triggers depersonalization which is a way for critical care nurses to cope. Finally, lack of personal accomplishment is achieved when the nurse cannot meet their inherent high standards and are unsupported by their colleagues and superiors (Epp, 2012, p. 28). To prevent and remedy burnout, Epp’s (2012) article suggests that nurse managers play an integral role by regulating staffing levels and encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration. In addition, they can foster a supportive work environment by participating in daily reports, establishing relationships with staff nurses to identify individual signs of stress, and instituting educational workshops. Critical care nurses are also encouraged to play an active role in combatting burnout by advocating for themselves and for their colleagues to institute personal measures such as rest, delegation, and stress management (Epp, 2012, p.
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.
Reflecting back on the all the information learned this semester, I am amazed at how much I learned. Working in healthcare makes you aware of a lot of the topics that were covered, however, when you apply it to yourself, in a personal relationship, it becomes much more powerful what the impact of each topic is.
The focus of every health care professional is the patient and the goal is to return the patient to optimum health where the patient can be independent. When the patient’s safety is being compromised it’s everyone’s job to fix the problem and make sure that it doesn’t happen again. However, there’s a dark side to nursing. The nurse is one of the few health care workers that have the most daily contact with the patient. The nurse plays a very important role in the patients care from teaching to simply being a listener while withholding any judgement. When the nurse to patient ratio isn’t balanced, it causes nurse burnout. Nurse burnout is when the nurse becomes “physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted” (Michigan, S. S. (n.d.). News.
Find healthy ways to cope with stress, such as exercise, meditation, or spending time with people you care about.