Compassion Fatigue (Essay Sample)

COMPASSION FATIGUE
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The acknowledgement of another individual’s suffering accompanied by the desire to ease or end the suffering, is what compassion represents (Van der Cingal, 2009). Compassion fatigue was identified when a group of nurses from the emergency department seemed to have lost their ability to nurture, but it was never clarified or defined and this left the nurses in predominantly disposition to compassion fatigue without being aware of identifying and preventing it from happening (Coetzee & Klopper, 2010). Compassion fatigue is experienced when nurses begin to have a feeling of fear, pain and suffering that their patients are experiencing, and indirectly takes such feelings as their own. Boyle (2011) contends that the symptoms of compassion fatigue begin gradually and such symptoms include malaises and weariness to alter their ability to cope with stress which ultimately results to negative psychological and physical consequences.
Individuals who are at a highest risk to develop compassion fatigue as Boyle (2011), states are those who are in the forefront of medicine. This is because they are the one who absorb the traumatic stress of the patients they help, which is in contrast with many first responders such as firefighters and paramedics since they are equipped with complex training and debriefing modules that enhance them to cope with traumatic situations. Nurses on the other hand have a continuous relationship with their patients care and are always responsible for the patients on a daily basis in response to acute care situations and life threatening emergencies and hence they consistently absorb the patients and their families’ needs.
There are five concepts of compassion fatigue warning signs that have been identified as to contribute to the risk which include; emotional state of the helper, expectations and ability to process information, ego defensive process, idea logic belief system and coping abilities (Boyle, 2011). The emotional state of the helper implies the ability of an individual to interact with the outside world. Individuals who are optimistic are usually happy and they perceive things positively and they have the likelihood of not suffering fro m the compassion fatigue.
By being positive, nurses develop a positive relationship with their patients and ultimately find reward and job satisfaction as they have a belief of making a difference even in difficult situations. Nurses who are pessimistic usually see the negative side in e very situation and they have the likelihood of becoming stressed out in a complex situation. They are more worried about their patients in case they do not do enough when it matters most to make a difference. It is the difference in emotional states that makes a difference on how stressful situations can be processed.
The risk for compassion fatigue can be increased when an individuals expectation and ability to process information does not work out as expected. This is an aspect that faces new nurses who often become victims of compassion fatigue as a result of unmet expectation in the job. They seem to be idealistic and highly motivated but are usually unprepared for ambiguity of roles, heavy workload and changing environment (Bush, 2009). New nurses usually have strong sense of them and believe they can make a difference in health care.
New nurses strong conviction enhance them to go an extra mile to make a difference but the fast paced workload in the emergency department and they perceive themselves as not making a difference. They find themselves making more mistakes because of the fast paced environment making them unsure of their commitment in nursing. Falling short of expectation with respect to their jobs as well as themselves make them predisposed to compassion fatigue.
Ego defensive process implies how well an individual is able to handle stress and traumatic process. This is another aspect that can increase the risk for compassion fatigue since nurses are the most highly sensitive and manipulated individuals in traumatic situations as they are always working with patients in constant state of pain. The patients have experienced traumatic events and look forward to nurses for support. Nurses who are sensitive and easily manipulated can not cope with the stress associated in such an environment since it is too much to process and be highly sensitive and only make the work environment worse.
An individual’s ideological belief implies how an individual perceive the world to accomplish ones goals. Nurses who believes that all individuals must be responsible for their own fate implies that it is an individuals choice that puts them in their situations, and they work in healthcare with the risk they find it emotionally and mentally exhausting. Therefore, they are always in constant battle to show care and understanding to the same individuals they believe have the power to change their situation. This makes such nurses to be in a continuous state of inner turmoil and eventually can give way to compassion fatigue.
It is imperative for health care professionals to have strong coping and support mechanisms in religion, family and other types of coping mechanisms. This is because nurses faced with different kinds of illness mental, physical, and e motional and have to provide care and guidance continuously to those requiring any kind of support. Often, nurses are able to survive getting through all this because of their family and friends. Nurses who do not have a way of coping with such stress they face on a daily basis can result to burnout due to job pressure.
Every aspect of an individual can be affected by compassion fatigue be it physically, emotionally and spiritually. It is apparent that nursing is a high demanding job that is significantly not appreciated despite there being only a certain individual can withstand such situations. It is therefore important to understand individual’s physical limits since overworking or being under stuffed can have profound effects on individual body. There is a need for one to have enough rest as failure would result to compassion fatigue that manifests through aches, weariness and diminishing performance (Coetzee & Klopper, 2010).
Emotional well being of an individual should be importantly as well being protected. This is because as nurses are emotionally involved with patients, forms part of their territory and they must be careful not to develop depression. Nurses transfer their emotions to patients on a daily basis to encourage them in times of grief and offering them a feeling that they are receiving better treatment. ...