Targeting Compassion Fatigue

A career in nursing certainly has its challenges, but only recently has any serious attention been given to one issue facing nurses. Compassion fatigue was identified as “a combination of physical, emotional, and spiritual depletion associated with caring for patients in significant emotional pain and physical distress” in a primer published by the American Nurses Association. Resources offered to nurses to combat compassion fatigue include counseling, work retreats, and workshops.

Lucia Wocial, a nurse ethicist at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis, explains how important it is to encourage nurses to utilize resources available to them to combat compassion fatigue: “We tell them how important it is to rejuvenate, because you can’t take care of people unless you are taking care of yourself.” Lower productivity, increased employee turnover and a higher amount of sick days were revealed as issues stemming from compassion fatigue in one analysis cited in the original article, which appeared on The Wall Street Journal's Health Blog.

A Registered Nursing career presents myriad joys and difficulties, and it is very encouraging to see issues facing nurses everyday being identified, and solutions becoming available.