Nursing Concept Analysis Paper

1044 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Nursing health differences

Application of Concept Analysis to Clinical Practice Concept analysis seeks to determine structure, function, attributes, and characteristics of a concept which serves to provide common understanding of the term so that future research endeavors find the concept clearly communicable and increasingly measurable. (Smego, 2010.) Compassion Fatigue (CF) within the nursing profession needs to be probed more critically and monitored for trends among certain subspecialties of nursing. Compassion fatigue or otherwise known as Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder is clinically defined as, “The emotional residue or strain of exposure to working with those suffering from the consequences of traumatic events. It differs from burn-out, but can co-exist. …show more content…

This particular concept of Compassion Fatigue can be a very vague abstract phenomenon because defining what the signs and symptoms of Compassion Fatigue are, is very obscure and fuzzy. Nurses do not always or often report that they are suffering from Compassion Fatigue and may associate the symptoms with employment burn out or unrelated health concerns. It is important for nurses to become knowledgeable about Compassion Fatigue symptoms and intervention strategies and to develop a personal plan of care so as to achieve a healthy work life balance. Equally as important is that healthcare systems invest in creating healthy work environments that prevent Compassion Fatigue and address the needs of the nurses who are suffering from Compassion Fatigue ("Compassion Fatigue: A Nurse’s Primer," 2001.) While the concept of Compassion Fatigue, Burn Out and Compassion Satisfaction has been analyzed by authors Mooney et al, this is only a small portion of understanding Compassion Fatigue in the Oncology Unit and what steps to take to combat or prevent Compassion Fatigue in new nurses on the unit. Author Melonie McEwen reflects that expert practice and enhanced education lead advanced practice nurses to recognize commonalities in phenomena that suggest the need for inquiry (MCEWEN, 2018, p. 50). Compassion Fatigue is not a new concept or idea but developing the whys and hows of the prevalence of Compassion Fatigue should be investigated as well as more effective interventions so that the nurse does not jeopardize patient safety or job

Show More
Related

  • Compassion Fatigue in Pediatric Oncology Nurses

    1276 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 ...

    Read More

  • Taking a Look at Nurse Fatigue

    1665 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the recent past, nursing has come to the forefront as a popular career amongst students across the globe. The demand for nurses has kept increasing gradually over the years. In fact, the number of registered nurses does not meet the demand of the private and public health sector. This phenomenon has resulted in a situation where the available registered nurses have to work extra hours in order to meet the patients’ needs. With this in mind, the issue of nurse fatigue has come up as a common problem in nursing. According to the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), nurse fatigue is “a feeling of tiredness” that penetrates a persons physical, mental and emotional realms limiting their ability to function normally. Fatigue does not just involve sleepiness as has been assumed before. It involves utter exhaustion that is not easily mitigated through rest. When nurses ignore the signs of fatigue, they risk the development of chronic fatigue and other health problems that may not be easily treated. Additionally, fatigue may cause nurses to lose more time at work as they may have to be away from work for several days to treat it. The issue of nurse fatigue has permeated the nursing profession to the extent of causing errors in the work performed by nurses. Fatigue causes a decrease in a nurse’s ability to make accurate decisions for themselves and their patients. It is therefore important to find ways to curb nurse fatigue such that it is no longer a problem. Nurse fatigue is a danger to the patients, organizations and to the nurses themselves and must be mitigated adequately.

    Read More

  • Compassion Fatigue

    1263 Words  | 3 Pages

    The definition of compassion is “sympathetic consciousness of another’s distress with a desire to alleviate it” (Merriam-Webster dictionary, 2011). Compassion and the desire to nourish may be the deciding factors that would lead one to pursue a career in nursing. Nurses over the span of their career will have extensive exposure to trauma, pain, and unfortunate situations. Workplace stressors such as scheduling and increasing workload along with repeated exposure to the hardships of others predisposes caregivers, especially nurses, to develop a unique type of burnout labeled compassion fatigue (Joinson 1992). Compassion fatigue develops when a nurse unintentionally takes on the misfortune, anxiety, pain, and trauma of the patients they care for.

    Read More

  • The Issues Of Nursing Burnout And Compassion Fatigue

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Compassionate Care and the Patient and Caregiver Relationship

    1521 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...e with compassion fatigue will be of no use to help with the patient’s emotional and spiritual needs. The emotions of both the nurse and the patient needs to be met in order to establish good communication and compassionate care between the two.

    Read More

  • Nurse Burnout Essay

    1355 Words  | 3 Pages

    Burnout is a highly unusual type of stress disorder that is essentially characterized by emotional exhaustion, lack of empathy with patients, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishments. The nature of the work that healthcare practitioners perform predisposes them to emotional exhaustion. On the other hand, the lack of empathy towards patients is caused by the nurses feeling that they are underpaid and unappreciated. Numerous researches have associated burnout with the increasing rate of nurse turnover. This paper explores the causes of burnouts in nurses as well as what can be done to prevent the them.

    Read More

  • Compassion Fatigue Case Study

    1456 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Problem of Nursing Burn-Out

    2208 Words  | 5 Pages

    One of the most serious issues in nursing, that can affect a nurses career is nursing burn- out. According to the article “Where have all the nurses gone”, current nurses that are practicing, report high rates of job dissatisfaction (which is part of burn out) and 1 of 5 nurses may quit nursing in the next 5 years (Dworkin, 2002). Burnout is associated with nurses not coming in to work, not feeling satisfied when doing their job, high turnover rates and a lack of commitment to the work (Katisfaraki, 2013). If a nurse becomes burned- out, they may not take care of their patients as well and could make mistakes with medication administration. A study performed in the United States by Dr. Jeannie Cimiottti, shows that hospitals with high burn-out rates among nurses have higher levels UTI’s, and surgical infections (World, 2012). Nursing burnout not only affects the nurse, but it also affects the patient, the nurses’ colleagues, and the nurses’ family; nursing burn out often leads to emotional exhaustion and depression, that can effect relations and communication between the nurse effected and the person they are communicating with. This paper will cover what burn-out is, who is susceptible to burn out, and treatment and prevent nursing burn out.

    Read More

  • Fundamental Patterns Of Knowing Nursing Analysis

    879 Words  | 2 Pages

    A Review of the Fundamental Patterns of Knowing in Nursing Nursing takes on a different form of learning that reflects several different aspects and abilities that encompass a wide range of skills and forms the ways of knowing in nursing. The article, “The Fundamental Patterns of Knowing in Nursing,” incorporates multiple theories associated with the learning patterns in nursing. It is a review of literature that helps identify and understand the knowledge practiced by nurses and to better understand the nursing profession. The purpose of the paper was to evaluate the expectations of learning within the nursing realm based on the four areas of nursing that include, empirics, esthetics, personal knowledge and ethics. Empirics: The first step in learning is to understand the objective data.

    Read More

  • Why Is Compassion Fatigue Important

    1634 Words  | 4 Pages

    If precautions are not taken, the caring and empathetic medical professionals can fall victim to the overwhelming circumstances, which may result in compassion fatigue. While this issue is already a heavy problem for nurses, the greater problem is that not many nurses are able to identify when they, themselves are at risk. Bringing awareness to compassion fatigue would not only help nurses find proper support, but would also be a preventive measure, as well as be effective to the hospital in job satisfaction, and increase the quality of care that is provided to patients. We can bring awareness by providing education to our hospitals that effectively explain to nurses and

    Read More

  • Concept Analysis Of Nurse Burnout

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    Recent literature reports that there is a nursing shortage and it is continually increasing. Data released by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2011) projects that the shortage, would increase to 260,000 by the year 2025. AACN (2011) also reported that 13% of newly registered nurses changed jobs and 37% were ready to change within a year. A study conducted reports that there is a correlation between higher nursing workloads and nurse burnout, retention rates, job dissatisfaction and adverse patient outcomes (Vahey & Aiken, 2004). Among the nurses surveyed in the study, over 40% stated that they were suffering from burnout while 1 in 5 nurses intended

    Read More

  • Summary Of Caring In Nursing

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    Caring in nursing is a process in which one uses caring behaviors consisting of attitudes and actions to promote the well-being of another, one learns caring behaviors through educational experiences, and self-awareness is essential to the learning process. Caring as a developmental process by which an individual develops sufficient knowledge of another to respond to the needs of the other in a caring way. Nurses need to remember to care for self to be able to care for others. Summarize: This article discusses how developing self-compassion is vital for avoiding compassion fatigue and promotes compassion satisfaction as it enables the caregiver to deal with close contact with the other person’s suffering. Compassionate care is an interpersonal phenomenon where the caregiver connects with the patient as a unique person with unique experiences.

    Read More

  • Essay On Compassion Fatigue

    559 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The Role Of Rehabilitation Nurse

    1208 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since rehab nurses frequently have the same patients for long periods of time, they witness the patients progress made from when they first began their treatment. Although they may feel happiness once their patient reaches their maximum function, they are also susceptible to compassion fatigue during treatment. Rehabilitation Nurses are constantly exposed to patients who have lost a part of who they are due to physical impairment and who need guidance in finding coping mechanisms. As a result, they are expected to replenish patient enthusiasm and provide constant support. Many believe education, training and experience will protect healthcare providers from feeling pain or loss, but compassion fatigue is inevitable especially when dealing with emotional exhaustion from work overload and patient care (Bush, 2009, pg. 26). Rehabilitation Nurses empathize with patients who are struggling to regain function or who cannot accept their new physical condition. Not all providers and all cases cause emotional distress and burnout; rather, it depends on the severity, relationship, and work environment of a Rehab Nurse (Bush, 2009, pg. 26). Regardless, all healthcare providers should take preventative care and find their own coping mechanisms that will ensure their

    Read More

  • Dalai Lama Compassion

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    The ethics of compassion in the professional life can be argued that there are negative aspects to its use, such as “compassion fatigue”. Compassion fatigue is when someone becomes overwhelmed or emotionally exhausted from helping others to such a degree that it starts to lessen their compassion for people. That person can begin to lose focus on their work, have feelings of helplessness or self-doubt. You could become so involved with others’ problems that they typically become very dependent on you. We could admit that it can start to be too much when someone is really needy of you and then you have to deal with the bitter consequences during the times you can’t come to their rescue. Usually the careers that involve trauma patients, tragic situations, or mental illnesses are much more prone to compassion fatigue.

    Read More

More about Nursing Concept Analysis Paper

Open Document