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Nursing focus is patient-centered, thereby setting itself apart from other disciplines through a positive caring approach. Majority of nurses join the profession motivated by the idea of caring for others. Nurses are at the forefront of care and serve as a support system for patients and their families. They provide endless compassionate attention to patients with physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs. Often, attending to overwhelming needs of patients and their families, nurses experience compassion fatigue. The aim of this paper is to focus on the prevalence along with the signs and symptoms of compassion fatigue, the effects on the care provided by nurses experiencing compassion fatigue, and to define a systematic approach to
Identification of Problem Compassion is one of nursing’s core values. It is defined as the “sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). Nursing care is often selfless, with little regard for the nurses own health. This compassionate care is emphasized by Jean Watson, an American nurse theorist and nursing professor. “In Watson’s Nursing (1999) spirituality, caring, and the nature of the interpersonal relationships nurses have with their patients are recognized as key to healing and healthy behaviors” (American Nurses Association, 2010). Watson’s theory is based on the compassionate relationships between nurses and their patients; the theory advocates for relationship based nursing. “Compassionate caring has certain emotional consequences that result from helping or wanting to help a suffering person” (Fetter, 2012, p. 559). There are varying definitions for compassion fatigue. Largely in part due to the complexity of the issue. Aycock and Boyle (2009) describe compassion fatigue as the
There are numerous physical, emotional, and work related symptoms that manifest themselves related to compassion fatigue. Table 1 “A bereaved nurse may experience emotional, behavioral, and psychological reactions such as sadness, crying, anxiety, sleep disturbances, and loss of concentration because of the grief related feelings these situations elicit in clinical practices” (Marcella-Brienza & Mennillo, 2015, p. 208). Compassion fatigue results in emotional exhaustion. “Negative consequences of emotional exhaustion can include burden, depression, anxiety, fear, apathy, desire to quit, and helplessness” (Fetter, 2012, p. 559). It is noted that compassion fatigue is a result of chronic stress. “Chronic stress, such as the bereavement experienced by hospice nurses, has been linked to complaints of insomnia” (Carter & Mikan, 2013, p. 368). “A variety of physical symptoms related to compassion fatigue are experienced by nurses as well, including forgetfulness, headaches, stomachaches, high blood pressure, weight gain, anger, stiff neck, fatigue, and disrupted sleep” (Fetter, 2012, p. 559). “This exhaustion is often associated with the loss of ability to provide compassionate care, a decrease in quality of patient care, and decisions to leave the workplace” (Houck, 2014, p. 454). The destruction of compassion fatigue has consequences beyond those affecting the nurse. Hospitals can
In nursing, the patient is often viewed as the main priority of the nursing staff. The nurse works to provide care for the patient based on the patient 's admitting diagnosis. However, the patient must be looked at as a part of the greater system they exist in such as their family or home environment. While the patient may be ill due to a bacterial infection or virus, their family environment also plays a role in their overall health and wellness.
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 ...
Nurse fatigue is a serious topic not only in the nursing profession circles but in the health sector as a whole. The effects of nurse fatigue are serious in a way that the issue can no longer be ignored. As discussed in this paper, it is important for nurses to be aware of the signs of fatigue and take adequate action when it happens. It is also possible for nurses to develop a work ethic that ensures nurses do not reach the point of fatigue
...nate in their work and genuinely care for their patients, but to do this they must set professional and personal boundaries and be aware of the effect pain; trauma and death may have on their lives. According to Bush (2009), nurses must learn forgiveness and love themselves to prevent and overcome compassion fatigue. “Nurses should treat themselves with the empathy and compassion that they give others” (Bush, 2009, p. 27). Nurses should take time to nurture themselves by maintaining a healthy lifestyle and diet. They should also continue to participate in activities that they enjoy, get plenty of rest, and have a sense of self-awareness throughout their career. Additional resources are available to any caregiver to educate themselves on compassion fatigue at The Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project’s web site at http://www.compassionfatigue.org/index.html.
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
...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.
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
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.
The nursing profession is one of the most physically, emotionally, and mentally taxing career fields. Working long shifts, placing other’s needs before your own, dealing with sickness and death on a regular basis, and working in a high stress environment are all precursors to developing occupational burnout in the nursing profession. Burnout refers to physical, emotional and mental exhaustion, which can lead to an emotionally detached nurse, who feels hopeless, apathetic, and unmotivated. Burnout extends beyond the affected nurse and begins to affect the care patients receive. Researchers have found that hospitals with high burnout rates have lower patient satisfaction scores (Aiken et al 2013). There are various measures that nurses can take
My philosophy of nursing incorporates knowledge, compassion, competence, and respect for each patient. It is based on my personal and professional experiences, both of which have helped me to positively contribute to a patient’s recovery and wellness. These are the attributes that give me a sense of pride and strengthen my commitment to the nursing profession. This paper explores my values and beliefs relating to a patient’s care, as well as, the responsibilities of health professionals.
Lippincott , Williams, & Wilkins, (2012). Sentinel event alert spotlights nurse fatigue. Clinical Rounds, 42(3), 27-29. doi: 10.1097/01.NURSE.0000411416.14033.f5
Nurses want to give complete and quality care, but are unable to, due to the constant needs of their workload and inadequate staffing. They have to prioritize their patients needs based on the most critical treatments first. Then whatever time is left, they fill in what treatments they can. Some reasons that nursing treatments are missed include: too few staff, time required for the nursing intervention, poor use of existing staff resources and ineffective delegation.” (Kalisch, 2006) Many nurses become emotionally stressed and unsatisfied with their jobs. (Halm et al., 2005; Kalisch,
Attention is an important characteristic of caring in nursing because it helps the patient feel important and acknowledged.
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.
Watson’s theory was built on the earlier values of nursing and emphasized caring, which is a core principal of what the profession of nursing was founded on (Sitzman, 2007). The concept of caring reflects a supportive, nonjudgmental, respectful, and healing environment for the patient and the nurse (Caring Science Theory & Research, 2015). According to Watson’s theory, caring is not only physical but spiritual, where the nurse and patient form a transpersonal caring relationship (Caring Science Theory & Research, 2015). In this relationship, the nurse connects the patient’s current health status to their spiritual well-being and mind set (Sitzman,