Compassion Fatigue Michelle Phoebe Baltazar Grand Canyon University: HLT-310V April 18, 2013 Compassion Fatigue in Nursing Compassion is defined as “a complex emotion that allows caregivers to hold and sustain themselves in emotional balance while holding patient’s despair in one hand and their hopefulness in the other” (Gilmore, 2012, pg.32). Compassion is the core of nursing and why most nurses chose the profession. The essence of compassion is what gives nursing the power to heal holistically. Caring about what patients’ care about is what great nursing is all about, without it, all it is, is a job. Nurses are at risk of not caring due to compassion fatigue.
Caring for the Caregiver Lynn Baker Grand Canyon University HLT-310V October 27, 2013 Caring for the Caregiver Compassion fatigue is the physical or mental tiredness or disillusionment resulting from distress for the afflictions of others, accompanied by the desire to help (Feistheilmeier, 2012). It is demonstrated by profound emotional and physical tiredness, and by a change in helping professionals sense of hope and confidence about the future and the importance of their work. It is an everyday result of working in the health care industry (Mathieu, 2013). In this paper, the writer will discuss warning signs for five concepts of compassion fatigue, the nature of the problems and their causes, the needs of the caregiver, and coping strategies and resources for those suffering from compassion fatigue. Health providers care for sick, injured, devastated and susceptible patients on a daily basis, and subsequently they are constantly subjected to significant pain, trauma and suffering.
Combating Compassion Fatigue Grand Canyon University Foundations of Spirituality in Health Care HLT-310V Emory Davis September 13, 2013 Combating Compassion Fatigue Compassion Fatigue has been described as the “cost of caring” for others in emotional and physical pain. According to Figley, caregivers who have an inherent ability to care with compassion and express empathy are at the greatest risk for compassion fatigue when continuously faced with grief and loss. Compassion fatigue is a progressive and cumulative process that is influenced by three factors: interaction with patients, the nurse's use of their own resources, and exposure to stress (Coetzee, S. K., & Klopper, H. C. (2010). Compassion fatigue is divided into three stages. The first stage is compassion discomfort which can be reversed by rest and may include exhaustion, decreased enthusiasm, and weakening attention.
Ending Nurse-Nurse Violence with Ethical Leadership NR504: Leadership and Nursing Practice: Role Development Ending Nurse-Nurse Violence with Ethical Leadership Upholding high professional standards and codes of ethics is and always will be a top priority within nursing. There is an abundance of literature focused on the subject, with much of it emphasizing the treatment of patients. However, in the past twenty years there has been an increase in research related to how nurses treat each other. As a profession, nursing is well known for its caring spirit; nurses devote their time and energy to easing the suffering of their patients through the care they deliver. Yet, there exists in on-going trend of nurse-on-nurse violence within the workplace.
The article by Steen (2007) is a Meta-analysis study focusing on perineal tears and episiotomy how they heal and the process involved. The findings were that most women experience pain due to perineal wounds, mothers should be asked about any concerns about the healing process of perineal wounds and most importantly, midwives should be trained to take care of these wounds and provide adequate pain relief. Developing a trusting relationship with a woman is also very important as this will promote good communication, opportunities to discuss perineal care, early detection of a delay in healing and possible infection. The article entitled, the need to avoid the routine use of episiotomy is a systematic review about the use of episiotomy. A series of randomized trials included 6 randomized controlled trials with 6600 women.
Compassion Fatigue Compassion is the ability to feel sympathy of another being’s distress with the desire to alleviate (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2014). Compassion fatigue is a type of work burnout specific to caregivers, which is a multifaceted phenomenon that emanates from unresolved accumulated stress from ineffective coping of the caregiver’s needs built over time as well as one’s ineffective coping response to the patient’s distress (Bush, 2009). Due to the constant changing and increasing demands of healthcare, as well as the close nature of patient to caregiver relationship, nurses are at high risk for compassion fatigue. This essay will identify warning signs of compassion fatigue; explain the problems and their causes; explain the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the caregiver; lastly, identify coping strategies and useful resources for the caregiver. Warning Signs for Compassion Fatigue Compassion fatigue can exhibit a wide range of symptoms, affecting areas, such as cognitive, emotional, behavioral, social relations, physical manifestations, work performance, and one’s spirituality (Bush, 2009).
Acute Renal Failure NU270 Assignment 6.1 7/26/2012 Patients that are in acute renal failure have many obstacles that they are faced with. The nurse should follow evidence based interventions when caring for them. Electrolyte imbalance, blood loss, infection, and nutrition are just a few of the issues the nurse must be educated about. It is important for the nurse to impose every intervention available to reduce the risk of infection in the patient experiencing acute renal failure. “Make sure appropriate hand hygiene is used.
I wanted to see how other nurses dealt with the stresses of this field and the burnout rate. In any occupation people can experience burnout or dissatisfaction. When I came across this article in look intriguing so I choose to do my article review over it. Additionally, the abstract said that it gave suggestions to how to improve job satisfaction in mental heath nursing so I thought it would be beneficial to read even if I don’t decided to work in mental heath. “Burnout is a psychological experience that manifests itself in individual, particularly those involved in difficult person-to-person relationships as part of their work, such as nursing professionals (Hamaideh 1).
Annotated Bibliography on Pain Assessment Tools for Patients With Limited Communication Health Assessment Tammy F. Surrency Dr. Constance Morrison March 12, 2013 Introduction Pain assessment tools for patients with limited communication is the topic of this annotated bibliography. This is a topic of interest to me because for nurses, it is very important to perform a pain assessment on patients who have limitations in their ability to communicate as a result of cognitive impairment, learning disabilities, or language impairment. To identify, assess, and treat patients with complaints of pain are vital because the experience of pain may affect the perception and expression of other symptoms resulting in inappropriate treatments and management. In order to properly treat the symptoms of pain, a good pain assessment tools are used. The use of the pain assessment tool will assist in developing the plan of care for the patients.
Post-operatively, whether post-operative day 1 or day 10, orthopedic patients are very dependent on nurses and other healthcare professionals to meet and provide their daily needs. This patient population has many self-care deficits of varying degrees. To meet the demands of the orthopedic patients, Dorothea E. Orem’s theory is a good guide for my and other nurses’ professional practice. Self-care competence has an impact in the quality and quantity of life. Nurses educate and assist patients to achieve their competency in caring for themselves.