Compassion Fatigue
Combating Compassion Fatigue
Grand Canyon University HLT-310V February 24, 2012
Combating Compassion Fatigue
Introduction
Compassion fatigue is an exhaustion that affects people who meet and accompany patients or attend to people whose history is marked by suffering. Listening day after day to dramatic stories tends to exhaust vital energy of a human being and also causes physical, psychological and emotional disturbance (Reese, 2009). Compassion fatigue affects people who frequently listen to the stories of individuals who have experienced difficult situations or traumatic experiences. Compassion fatigue generally afflicts therapists, medical personnel, human resource officers, social workers, teachers and individuals who attend to patients with disability (Orosco, 2011). The paper discusses various aspects of caregiver compassion and identifies warning signs for the condition, the nature of the problems and their causes. Physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the caregiver are also evaluated to identify coping strategies and resources to help the caregiver.
Discussion
Compassion fatigue is most frequently reported amongst nurses, doctors and other frontline care providers in direct interaction with patients. This condition significantly effects these professionals’ interaction with patients, with families of patients and even with other health workers. In extreme cases, problems in interaction with own family has been reported according to Reese (2009). Reese (2009) further states there is an increasingly awareness of the profound emotional disturbances that occur in health care providers when they witness the pain and suffering of the patients in the face of an incurable disease such as cancer. Care providers are often partners in the journey of the patients they are attending. At present, an understanding of the effects of the treatment of terminally ill on the caregiver is limited.
The first sign of compassion fatigue is a feeling of
Grand Canyon University HLT-310V February 24, 2012
Combating Compassion Fatigue
Introduction
Compassion fatigue is an exhaustion that affects people who meet and accompany patients or attend to people whose history is marked by suffering. Listening day after day to dramatic stories tends to exhaust vital energy of a human being and also causes physical, psychological and emotional disturbance (Reese, 2009). Compassion fatigue affects people who frequently listen to the stories of individuals who have experienced difficult situations or traumatic experiences. Compassion fatigue generally afflicts therapists, medical personnel, human resource officers, social workers, teachers and individuals who attend to patients with disability (Orosco, 2011). The paper discusses various aspects of caregiver compassion and identifies warning signs for the condition, the nature of the problems and their causes. Physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the caregiver are also evaluated to identify coping strategies and resources to help the caregiver.
Discussion
Compassion fatigue is most frequently reported amongst nurses, doctors and other frontline care providers in direct interaction with patients. This condition significantly effects these professionals’ interaction with patients, with families of patients and even with other health workers. In extreme cases, problems in interaction with own family has been reported according to Reese (2009). Reese (2009) further states there is an increasingly awareness of the profound emotional disturbances that occur in health care providers when they witness the pain and suffering of the patients in the face of an incurable disease such as cancer. Care providers are often partners in the journey of the patients they are attending. At present, an understanding of the effects of the treatment of terminally ill on the caregiver is limited.
The first sign of compassion fatigue is a feeling of
References: Blacklock, E. (2012). Interventions Following a Critical Incident: Developing a Critical Incident Stress Management Team. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 26(1) , 2-8. Orosco, S. (2011). The Effectiveness of Self-care Practices in Combating Compassion Fatigue in a Crisis Intervention Setting. Ohio: Abilene Christian University. Pines, A. (2001). Burnout: A current problem in pediatrics. Current Problems in Pediatrics, 11(7) , 3-32. Reese, M. (2009). Compassion Fatigue and Spirituality with Emergency Health Care Providers. New York: John Wiley & Sons.