Spirituality Week 4 Dq1 And 2 2

How often do you find yourself on the edge of compassion fatigue (with your family, your friends, your coworkers, your patients, your clients)? Do you think they can read it in your face? What can you do to be sure you have the emotional reserves to do what you need to do?
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.
The onset of either syndrome is gradual and insidious. Stressors just seem to pile up with each event taking its toll, until the healthcare worker’s coping mechanisms fail. Early recognition of these symptoms helps make recovery much easier. However, an ounce of prevention is certainly better than a pound of cure. Start early in your career and develop a care plan for your soul. Be sure to include interventions such as a sound diet, regular exercise, adequate rest, relaxation techniques, and other measures that minister to your mind and spirit. As healthcare workers, we can easily allow ourselves to become consumed by our roles. Try to develop a technique to visualize separating yourself from