Reducing compassion fatigue with self-care and mindfulness

Abstract

www.nursingcriticalcare.com Pediatric critical care nurses witness profound human suffering. Although they may reap personal satisfaction through the care they provide, repeated exposure to critically ill and terminally ill patients can put them at risk for compassion fatigue. Current research suggests that compassion fatigue affects just over half of all nurses across the clinical spectrum.1 Compassion fatigue involves changes in behavior and emotions after witnessing another person’s trauma.2 Nurses may experience compassion fatigue when providing care to traumatized patients and associated family members who have experienced acute and chronic illness, lifethreatening events, patient death, and significant emotional distress.3 Compassion fatigue is characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a decreased sense of personal accomplishment.2 It can manifest itself through a number of psychological and physical symptoms, including numbness, hopelessness, anxiety, depression, anger, poor concentration, gastrointestinal distress, muscle tension, headache, and sleep disturbances.4 In addition to health problems, it can lead to lack of social interaction, emotional strain, and spiritual dilemma. Further, it can bring about Abstract: To fill a gap in the literature on reducing compassion fatigue in pediatric ICU nurses, the authors conducted a nonrandomized pre-post intervention study on the impact mindfulness and meditation can have on reducing compassion fatigue. Participants experienced statistically significant improvement in levels of compassion satisfaction.