Compassion Fatigue

Abstract

Millions of nurses everyday are struck by initiating and rendering empathetic care to patients and families. Daily, nurses are also subject to a multitude of crises, high acuity sets and increased workloads. The psychological demands of a nurse, under incomprehensible amounts of stress, has yet to be addressed in depth. Compassion fatigue is a label stuck to the caregiver who becomes victim to continued strain in meeting the needs of patients and families suffering from critical, traumatic, or end-of-life needs. Because of compassion fatigue, the emotional, mental, and physical health of the nurse is at stake. Little has been done to prevent compassion fatigue in the workplace. However, voices are beginning to advocate for nurses who are in the trenches day in and day out by initiating compassion fatigue interventions. These include mentorship programs, educating healthcare staff on compassion fatigue symptoms, and speaking to state legislators who are able to enact change in the healthcare setting. The implications of personal health, patient satisfaction, job satisfaction, and joyfulness are in jeopardy.

Keywords: compassion fatigue, empathetic care, psychological demands, compassion fatigue interventions, compassion fatigue prevention, compassion fatigue symptoms, patient satisfaction, job satisfaction, mentorship programs

A new nurse and her preceptor have a seven patient assignment. The preceptor is called away to attend to another matter, leaving the new nurse alone to care for seven patients, including an end-of-life-care patient. The new nurse is anxious and mortified. Her task is to inject Roxanol and Ativan every hour into a person who is unconscious but breathing and with a palpable pulse. There was no training in nursing school on how to deal with emotional turmoil and fright such as this. There was no chapter explaining what to expect, how you may feel, or how to endure it. The new nurse's blood pressure is rising and her heart is pounding out of her chest. Her mood has hit rock bottom.

The new nurse walks into the end-of-life patient's room to inject another dose, but as the syringe penetrates the patient's skin and the dose is being inoculated, the patient dies. Inside, the new nurse is horrified, feeling as if she euthanized a living human-being, but on the outside she shows professionalism, sympathy, and strength for the family. On the drive home, she cries. The new nurse explains to loved ones that she feels the day was too much, too soon. From this point forward, she no longer can even accept or entertain the thought of caring for a dying patient again. She finds another job.

Few in nursing anticipate the emotional implications of heartfelt connections to patients and their families. This is known as compassion fatigue. Lombardo and Eyre define compassion