Preview

Combating Compassion Fatigue Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
382 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Combating Compassion Fatigue Essay Example
Combating Compassion Fatigue
.Read the articles listed in the readings for this module and use them as a starting point for researching the topic of……. compassion fatigue, ……….caregiver burnout, and related issues. Evaluate your sources to make sure they are academically sound and useful to your study. Compile concepts and resources to help yourself when facing burnout as you care for patients. In 1,250-1500 words, summarize your findings. Be sure to include the following:
1. Identify the warning signs for at least five concepts of compassion fatigue.
2. Present the nature of the problems and their causes.
3. Explain the……..A…. physical,……..B… emotional, and……….C… spiritual needs of the caregiver.
4. Finally, give examples of coping strategies and resources you can use to help you, the caregiver……(129 WORDS)
1. Identify the warning signs for at least five concepts of compassion fatigue.
Health-care professional and the place they work are responsible to be familiar with the signs and symptoms of burnout and compassion fatigue because people in health care role are at a higher risk. The five major concepts of compassion fatigue are cognitive, emotional, behavioral, spiritual, and somatic. The warning signs to be aware of for each of the concepts are described below.
Cognitive is a major concept of compassion fatigue. One will also experience a decrease in self-esteem and self-worth ( ). The capability to remain motivated on a task has become increasing difficult. Impacting the health care professionals aptitude to complete their duties. Coworkers will observe a decline in work presentation. Once there is a change in ones work presentation there is also a decrease in enthusiasm, absenteeism, negativity, and low morale ( ). Burnout and Compassion Fatigue Watch for the Signs retrieved from http://www.compassionfatigue.org/pages/healthprogress.pdf

When Healers Burn Out: Causes and Prevention of Occupational Stress among Health Care

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Research among mental health care professionals, indicate that “ in a variety of roles such as nursing, social work, psychology, psychiatry, case managers and mental health workers are often required to provide a high degree of care to clients over time which can result in physical and psychological complaints often referred to as compassion fatigue”(2013). It is argued that “being affected with a stress-related condition, such as compassion fatigue or burnout, does not only affect the health care workers themselves but also anyone around them including patients who report lower satisfaction with services” (2013). This was true for Lorna Fermin a case manager at South End Community Health Center. She accepted a position with the center, in desperate need for employment after…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Having a service like yoga that can benefit caregivers of older adults with dementia is essential because it ultimately can mean that caregivers are in a better physical and mental state which then means they can better care for their loved one as well. In addition self-care for caregivers is important because “over time, the stress of helping others can cause symptoms like anxiety, sleeplessness and irritability that interfere with everyday life. This response is often referred to as "compassion fatigue." Left untreated, compassion fatigue can lead to burnout and other conditions that may not go away on their own” (2014). Thus, it’s important that caregivers strive to avoid burned-out and implementing yoga for caregivers at adult day centers…

    • 235 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to Newell & MacNeil compassion fatigue is a combination of symptoms consisting of secondary trauma and burnout. The scores from the compassion fatigue test reveals the potential for compassion satisfaction, risk for burnout or risk for compassion fatigue. The test revealed compassion satisfaction for the writer meaning that I find pleasure…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Compassion fatigue is the end result of process by which in which care givers compassion ability is diminished; when he/she is caring for a sick person.…

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Helping others puts you in direct contact with other people’s lives. As you probably have experienced, your compassion for those you help has both positive and negative aspects. Compassion fatigue can strike the most caring and dedicated nurses, social workers, physicians and personal support workers alike. These changes can affect both their personal and professional lives with symptoms such as difficulty concentrating, intrusive imagery, and loss of hope, exhaustion and irritability. It can also lead to profound shifts in the way helpers view the world and their loved ones. Additionally, helpers may become dispirited and increasingly cynical at work, they may make clinical errors, violate client boundaries, lose a respectful stance towards their clients and contribute to a toxic work environment. It has been shown that, when we are suffering from compassion fatigue, we work more rather than less. What suffers is our health, our relationship with others, our personal lives and eventually our clients.…

    • 782 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sorrell, J.M.,(2007). Caring for the Caregivers. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing & Mental Health Services, 45(11), 17-20. Retrieved February 12, 2008, from ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source database. (Document ID: 1380091541).…

    • 3153 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Emotional changes can occur as a result of compassion fatigue such as, anger, apathy, desensitization, discouragement, flashbacks, feelings of being overwhelmed or hopeless, irritability, decreased enthusiasm, or sarcasm. There are also intellectual signs that can be detected such as, boredom, disorderliness, impaired concentration, and a lessened attention to detail. Physical symptoms that can be noticed on an individual experiencing compassion fatigue are, an increased amount of complaints, loss of energy, loss of endurance, loss of strength, increase in accidents, sense of fatigue, and exhaustion. Social life changes that can occur are, rudeness, feelings of being “left out”, difficulty sharing or alleviating suffering, indifference, loss of interest in activities once enjoyed, unresponsiveness, or a withdrawal from family and friends. Spirituality is often affected when facing compassion fatigue. The individual may notice a decrease and disinterest in self-analysis, a lack of spiritual awareness, or an increase in poor judgment. Maybe one of the most detrimental effects of compassion fatigue is the affect it has one’s work ethic. Compassion fatigue can cause an increase in being absent, ignoring patient problems, a desire to quit, a decrease in job performance quality, and tardiness. Although the effects of compassion fatigue can be detrimental, there are ways to prevent and lessen the symptoms…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Explain four ways of reducing stress and suggest ways of preventing stress in the care settings, including how care environments can…

    • 4775 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Aside from the obvious detriment that compassion fatigue puts on patient care, the condition affects the provider outside of the clinical setting as well. With the continual absorption and internalization of the patient’s emotions, compassion fatigue has a pronounced personal effect. Compassion fatigue can cause desensitivity, isolation, and substance abuse, which can result in an “inability to empathize with coworkers and even family members” (OverExposed: The Cost of Compassion). Imagine being a surgeon treating a child with a severed finger, then after a long day of working you come back home to your child crying over a scraped knee. Most likely the response to your child’s scraped knee would be less empathic when compared to another parent,…

    • 153 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    a big factor in the development of compassion fatigue. A nurse should be able to recognize their…

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Compassion fatigue is occurring frequently all around the world. Compassion fatigue is a physical and mental manifestation of overwhelming exhaustion and emotional withdrawal that can occur in people who care for sick or distressed people over an extended period of time. Compassion fatigue has been shown to affect nurses especially because they feel guilt and shame for becoming emotionally withdrawn. With most nurses nursing is not simply what they do for a job, nursing is who they are. Helping and caring for other people is a driving force for many people to go into nursing. This drive does not just turn off when a nurse clocks out. A nurse's noble drive to be caring and helpful to all puts them at great risk for compassion fatigue. Studies…

    • 210 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    She states that compassion fatigue is defined as the loss of a nurse’s ability to nurture patients. In a sample of 114 nurses 84.4% had moderate to high levels of CF (Hinderer et.al, 2014). According to Bao Suping, in the article Compassion Fatigue and Psychological Capital in Nurses Working in Acute Care Settings, the prevalence of compassion fatigue is negatively impacting both the quality of caring for patients and nurses’ professional quality of life (Suping & Taliaferro, 2015). On the other hand, nurses might experience compassion satisfaction as a positive outcome from working with trauma patients. Compassion satisfaction is feeling a sense of accomplishment and reward as a result of caring for trauma patients. In those who had specialized training to work with trauma victim, compassion satisfaction may actually be more prevalent than BO and…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Healthcare providers have agreed when entering the healthcare profession to give the utmost care to all patients and families. They have dedicated their time and energy to assure all patients are cared for the way the want and need to be treated. Many endless hours are provided to assure that quality and empathetic care is given, which can often end up in what is called compassion fatigue and caregiver burnout. There are warning signs to both issues that healthcare providers can be on the lookout for to lessen the risk of developing caregiver burnout and compassion fatigue and strategies and resources that can help the healthcare professionals and caregivers to overcome it.…

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Compassion fatigue, which is also known, as secondary traumatic stress is a natural effect that occurs as a result of taking care of patients who are in pain, stressed, suffering, or traumatized.…

    • 2266 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the most impressive observations for me was the way Mr. Ben took on the caregiver role with such dedication and acceptance. Based on the Stress and Coping Theory by Lazarus and Folkman, I considered two aspects during my reflection: cognitive appraisal and coping (Stroebe & Schut, 1999). On primary cognitive appraisal, Mr. Ben consistently portrayed himself as a man who has accepted the obstacles in life without resentment. This…

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays