Compassion Fatigue, Research Paper Example

Trauma nurses work with critically ill patients on a routine basis, which is likely to contribute to challenging emotional and psychological circumstances for some nurses. Therefore, the phenomenon of compassion fatigue must be recognized as a legitimate concept with a set of challenging circumstances that impact nursing performance. Nurses working under these conditions may experience burnout at an accelerated level and face critical difficulties that are related to their ability to cope with critically ill patients (Hinderer et.al, 2014). As a result, they often experience high levels of stress that may lead to personal traumatic stress at a high level (Hinderer et.al, 2014).

Trauma nurses who experience compassion fatigue must be able to access support as necessary to improve their performance and address specific needs effectively (Boyle, 2011). Nurses must be fully engaged in the work environment to optimize the quality of care that they administer to trauma patients, and this supports an understanding of moral distress and its impact on nursing performance and wellbeing (Mason et.al, 2014). For nurses, it is important to identify methods to cope with the stress of the profession in order to avoid burnout as best as possible, (Mathieu, 2014), while also recognizing strategies that will support adjustments as necessary and to cope effectively with the tension that is often experienced (Wilkinson, 2014). This process supports the need for specific strategies to enhance nurses’ delivery of high quality care on a consistent basis to meet the needs of the patient population at a high level (Boyle et.al, 2011). Trauma nursing, therefore, must be evaluated in the context of its impact not only on the patients themselves, but on the nurses who provide care in a highly stressful and challenging care environment on a regular basis.

References

(Boyle, 2011; Hinderer et al., 2014; Mason et al., 2014; Mathieu, 2014; Wilkinson, 2014)
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