Combating Compassion Fatigue

Combating Compassion Fatigue
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Compassion fatigue arises from the prolonged exposure to negative situations of patients. Nurses observe the suffering and stress that patients undergo, and often become overwhelmed to the extent that they experience a sense of hopelessness (Frandsen, 2010). It is defined as a state of intense emotional instability characterized by psychological and physiological impacts as a result of caring for people with terminal conditions. The caregivers are unable to compartmentalize their emotional investment and engage in countertransference where they are extremely engrossed in patient’s suffering (Bush, 2009).
Caregivers require identifying the warning signs for compassion fatigue in their early stages. Some of the signs include an obsessive tendency to show one’s ability, working harder than usual, ignoring one’s personal needs, failure to address the deep seated stress factors, increased skepticism and aggression, alcohol and substance abuse, isolation from social circles, feelings of internal vacuum, and depressive state (Frandsen, 2010). Person’s suffering from compassion fatigue should also stay vigilant in identifying signs such as prolonged states of fatigue, nightmares about patients, relapsing from physical exercise activities, frequent anxiety and fear bouts, feelings of inadequacy, unmerited anger, and despair (Bush, 2009).
One of the most important prerequisite of compassion fatigue is empathy. The caregiver focuses on the patient’s feelings and makes and emotional energy investment. This emotional investment contributes to the caregiver’s gradual plunge into stress which overtime graduates to compassion fatigue (Lynch & Lobo, 2012).The problems associated with compassion fatigue evolve gradually as the caregiver’s efforts at achieved positive health outcomes for patients fail. When their interventions prove uns...