Combating Compassion Fatigue

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the significance of Compassion Fatigue (CF) and its effects in the lives of caregivers. A caregiver is defined by dictionary.com as an individual, such as a physician, nurse, or social worker, who assists in the identification, prevention, or treatment of an illness or disability (dictionary.com). Caregivers may also include family members, friends or neighbors who voluntarily have accepted responsibility for looking after a vulnerable neighbor or relative. For the purpose of this paper, the primary caregivers discussed will be nurses. Most nurses chose nursing as a career because they have the desire to both help people and provide care for patients with physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs. Having this desire puts nurses at risk for suffering from CF. CF can affect nurses in many areas such as physically, emotionally, in job performance, as well as their attitude toward the work environment, coworkers, and their patients. Nurses suffering from CF may experience emotional symptoms that include, but not limited to; poor concentration, decreased focus, poor judgment, mood swings, irritability, anger and resentment (Eyre & Lombardo, 2011). Work related symptoms that may be experienced are; avoidance or dread of working with certain patients, reduced ability to feel empathy towards patients or families, and frequent use of sick days (Eyre & Lombardo, 2011). Physical symptoms often experienced are; headaches, digestive problems: diarrhea, constipation, and upset stomach, sleep disturbances: inability to sleep, insomnia, or too much sleep, and cardiac symptoms: chest pain/pressure, palpitations, and tachycardia (Eyre & Lombardo, 2011). If compassion fatigue continues and no interventions are implemented to combat it, full Burn Out will result. Burn out (BO) is defined as exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration, which gradually builds