Compassion Fatigue in Nursing, Essay Example

Population/Disease

In order to better understand the impact of compassion fatigue, the affected population must be identified. In this case, the population in question is trauma nurses who work with critically ill patients. This group is comprised of males and females from different age groups, cultures, and ethnicities who are subject to compassion fatigue in the workplace environment.

Intervention/Variable of Interest

The intervention or variable of interest to be considered is the existence of compassion fatigue in nurses who face critical challenges related to this condition, including high levels of stress and other concerns (Boyle, 2011). This group of nurses faces a number of issues that impact their wellbeing, such as burnout and lack of satisfaction in the workplace environment (Hinderer et.al, 2014). In this context, nurses must be able to address the different issues that may arise that impact their health and their ability to cope with stress on a regular basis, while balancing the responsibilities of this role (Mathieu, 2014).

Comparison

The comparison is the absence of compassion fatigue in nurses who work in a different area of the hospital or in a doctor’s office or clinic, where the level of stress may not be as high and may not lead to compassion fatigue at the same level. This represents the criteria that may be used to compare trauma nurses to other nurses who are not likely to experience compassion fatigue in the workplace.

Outcome

It is believed that compassion fatigue will ultimately contribute to high stress levels, burnout, moral distress, and lack of enthusiasm or work engagement for some trauma nurses working under pressure in these settings, and requires an understanding of how to alleviate these stressors as best as possible to improve quality of life and wellbeing for trauma nurses (Mason et.al, 2014; Wilkinson et.al, 2014).

Assigned Research Design

In order to understand the true impact of compassion fatigue on trauma nurses and how it impacts their stress levels and quality of life, it is important to identify a research protocol that will identify compassion fatigue and determine its root causes, as well as how to overcome this condition. For the purposes of this research, the proposed design would require an examination of individuals who are at risk of or who have already developed compassion fatigue in order to demonstrate how it limits nursing outcomes and productivity in some ways. In order to accomplish these objectives as effectively as possible, the most feasible research method would be a cross-sectional study, whereby participants are evaluated at different intervals or points in time, based upon specific markers that have been identified that impact their overall health and wellbeing in different ways.

A cross-sectional research design will provide opportunities to examine study participants at different stages of compassion fatigue or burnout, including those who have just begun to experience this condition, in order to identify the different areas where an evaluation of different criteria will lead to a number of conclusions regarding the subject matter at different stages. The cross-sectional research design will also demonstrate the importance of specific criteria in an effort to promote a greater understanding of compassion fatigue and how it impacts trauma nurses in different ways, including burnout, stress levels, moral distress, lack of motivation or enthusiasm, or work engagement, all of which may impact a nurse’s quality of life and the ability to perform in this role effectively.

References

Boyle, D. A. (2011). Countering compassion fatigue: a requisite nursing agenda. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 16(1), 2. doi: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol16No01Man02

Hinderer, K. A., VonRueden, K. T., Friedmann, E., McQuillan, K. A., Gilmore, R., Kramer, B., & Murray, M. (2014). Burnout, compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and secondary traumatic stress in trauma nurses. Journal of Trauma Nursing, 21(4), 160-169. doi: 10.1097/jtn.0000000000000055

Mason, V. M., Leslie, G., Clark, K., Lyons, P., Walke, E., Butler, C., & Griffin, M. (2014). Compassion fatigue, moral distress, and work engagement in surgical intensive care unit trauma nurses: a pilot study. Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing, 33(4), 215-225. doi: 10.1097/dcc.0000000000000056

Mathieu, F. (2014). Occupational hazards: compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma and burnout. The Canadian Nurse, 110(5), 12-13.

Wilkinson, S. (2014). How nurses can cope with stress and avoid burnout. Emergency Nursing, 22(7), 27-31. doi: 10.7748/en.22.7.27.e1354