Compassion Fatigue Nursing

Helping Nurses Cope With Grief and Compassion Fatigue: An Educational Intervention
There are relationships that are developed between nursing and patients throughout the course of treatment. When patients die, nurses tend to experience an overwhelming sense of grief and loss. A survey was designed for nurses who worked in a magnet designed hospital in the northeastern United States. It was stated that most nurses ignore their feelings which can lead to physical, emotions, and spiritual exhaustion. This article was based on interventions for oncology nurses to recognize and combat the chronic grief and compassion fatigue. There were interventions developed to allow time and opportunities for grieving that involved remembrance ceremonies. The
hospitals ensured outlets for sharing emotional expressions; such as, closure conferences, debriefing sessions, retreats, pastoral care, and counseling.
In addition, the hospital offered education on grief theories, compassion fatigues, end-of-life care and communication.
The goal was to give nurses the opportunity to recognize feelings of grief and loss by identifying ways to renew their personal strengths and well-being. The techniques used was spirituality, music, yoga and even relaxation. This intervention also promoted physical health, development of appropriate work-life balance, seek professional help when needed, and recognize the positive impact nurses have on patients and families. According to Potter et. al., “although it is sometimes difficult to find the appropriate time to discuss religion and spirituality in hospital settings, nurses need to assess what is important to spiritual well-being” (p.111). It is pivotal for nurses to address their feelings, because assessing patients who are fighting for cancer may cause unrecognized
stress. Moreover, the nurses in the study indicated that they appreciated the focus on self-care and they realized the need to make maintain emotional health as a priority.
According to Potter et. al., “cultural is the way in which groups of people make sense of their experiences relevant to life transitions such as birth, illness, and dying” (p. 110-111). Nurses tend to take care of others, but their health is important as well. The programs in the study was established and many nurses reported, they felt less isolated after implementing educational interventions to help cope with their grief. Overall, it is important to recognize that the educational program is anticipated that help nurses feel prepared to recognize the issues, commit to striving for better self-care, and recognize when professional assistance is needed.
In conclusion, this article was interesting. I love the fact that the hospital focused on the nurse’s health by reinforcing the importance of developing coping skills to promote physical health. In order to help others you have to help yourself first. It is important to give nurses the opportunity to have resources that can help cope with the stressors that may occur from the death of patients. Overall, I believe that it is important for nurses to learn the importance of work-life balance, self-care strategies, and communication
skills.