Compassion Fatigue Research Paper

What was once thought of as a profession driven by compassion and the desire to help those in need has now become filled with weary burnt out nurses who have lost sight of their purpose. Stress has caused them to distance themselves from the principles nursing is built upon. Our health care system needs to be revamped to improve the quality of care being administered. Nurses can be proactive and take steps to avoid burning out but, our health care administrators have to take matters into their hands because they have the capacity to initiate change. They must realize the gravity of the situation and take an offensive position to make a stand against the crisis of nursing

When one thinks about nursing, caring, empathy, and compassion come to mind. There is a link, an unbreakable union, for nurses that "compassion fatigue is the cost of caring for others in pain" (Boyle, 2015, p. 49). Compassion fatigue (CF) and its impact on nurses are predominant problems in many Emergency Departments (ED). Nurses perform a number of procedures throughout the day, but primarily the thing that they deliver the most is themselves (Harris & Quinn-Griffin, 2015). Nurses give care, succor, kindness, and tenderness to patients, families, other nurses; support to doctors and advanced practitioners, and give directions to medical technicians, nursing assistants, and other staff every

This chapter provides a background of nurse burnout and their effect on quality of care

A primary concept of nearly all nursing theories is the belief that humans are the center of nursing care. No matter what setting nurses are practicing in, the goal is to optimize patient outcomes by holistically caring for patients, families, and their environments. Imogene King took this idea, divided in into three systems: personal system, interpersonal system, and social system, and related the systems to goal attainment and specific concepts.

Palliative care continues to evolve in providing better end-of-life care and so does nursing care. Thus, nursing practice is enhanced to satisfy the demand of the palliative care. A nurse provides complex care and fulfils the needs of the patients. Nursing involves in caring work, which focus on patient experiencing agony in palliative and haematological cancer care. Nurses worked in a taxing environment, that can be highly stressful, and often they experience physical, psychological and spiritual exhaustion. This nature of work can have devastating effects on the health and wellbeing of a nurse. There are three concepts related to adverse consequences of caring work: these are compassion fatigue, burnout and vicarious traumatization.

Short staffing is one of the many challenges nurses encounter in the work environment. The impacts can be detrimental primarily to the patient’s outcome. To examine the effects of short staffing, research was conducted on 36,539 hospital inpatients to evaluate the amount of those exposed to an understaffed shift and how many patient outcomes resulted in a NSO (Twigg, Gelder, & Myers, 2015). NSO’s are nurse sensitive outcomes based on the nursing care provided to the patient. Patients exposed to short staffing had an increase of greater than one chance of NSO’s compared to patients not exposed (Twigg et al., 2015). Short staffing decreases the quality of care provided to each patient, as nurses develop burnout with increase workload. Implementing helpful measures can decrease nurse burnout and the affect it has on patient outcomes. For example, PCSN (patient care support nurses) are a useful resource to provide when nursing staff is low. Nurses can also benefit from applying time management measures during their shifts, such as prioritizing and delegating. The impacts of short staffing may be minimal on patient care if these the proper measures are implemented.

According to Julia Wood (2004), “communication is a systemic process in which individuals interact with and through symbols to create and interpret meanings. However, Sheppard (1993) suggests that, in the nurse–patient relationship, communication involves more than the transmission of information; it also involves transmitting feelings, recognizing these feelings and letting the patient know that their feelings have been recognized (M, 1993)”. It is a two way process. The patient conveys their fears and concerns to their nurse and helps them make a correct nursing diagnosis. An excellent communication skill between nurses and patients is essential for the successful outcome of individualized nursing care of each patient. The ability to communicate

Deciding to pursue a career in nursing, is often done form a place of giving. Giving of oneself to better the wellbeing of another. The process of providing care starts with an assessment of the situation and developing goals. Goal development happens with the patient present and takes efforts on the part of the nurse and patient. Imogene King created a systems approach to help the nurse-patient relationship and further created the goal attainment theory.

Patient as a personality trait. Merriam Webster’s online dictionary describes “patient” as 1. Able to remain calm and not become annoyed when waiting for a long time or when dealing with problems, or 2. Done in a careful way over a long period of time without hurrying. Alan, S., & Ertac,

This paper 's intention is to apply Compassion-Focused Therapy to the case study of Laura and will outline how Compassion Focused Therapy clarifies the case of Laura as well as outlining the methods used in Compassion-Focused therapy. The essay will finally evaluate how effective Compassion Focused Therapy is when understanding the case of Laura.

The health and condition of our patients is where we give our full attention to. Nurses can help improve patient’s health and well being by linking social determinants of health to outcomes (Ref). Research has proven that social determinants of health such as homelessness can affect health outcomes (Ref).We want to give our best effort to help in the development in each individual to regain maximal functional status through independence and self care. We need to make sure that we reach our goals in our plan of care and making sure that we will do everything in our ability to be as healthy as possible and teach them how to maintain being healthy. While ensuring our patient’s health, we should be mindful of our health as nurses as well. We should avoid being in the state of burnout. According to Jean Watson’s theory, she believed that holistic health care is central to the practice of caring in nursing. We need to take proper care of ourselves as well and stay healthy in order to deliver the best quality of care our patients need. Watson mentions the nurse and patient should have a transpirational relationship that could also enhance the patient’s ability for

Providing care to a patient is a particularly challenging process that requires a great deal of effort from a nurse. A nurse’s ability to give quality care to their patient is an important aspect to a patient’s life both now and in the future. As such, nurses must exhibit specific qualities in their practice in order to maintain the best standard of care for their patients. Given this, I believe that the standards of knowledge, advocacy, and self-awareness are foundational to the nursing practice and to a nurse’s capacity to provide quality patient care.

Just like a saw needs to stop being used in order to be sharpened, a nurse needs time off to recuperate; it’s as simple as that (Covey, 1989). It is important not to burn the candle at both ends, working more than the designated shifts and longer than 12 hours should be avoided. An example used regarding medication errors and working too many hours involves a nurse working a double shift on a pediatric oncology unit didn’t correctly prime an IV line and caused cardiac arrest in a patient (Kelley, 2004). Although nurses work three days a week, their hours remain the same as other full time employees that work the typical 5 day schedule. A nurse’s time off should be valued because they are the last line for patient care, they are the ones administering the medication the doctor prescribes and the pharmacy makes (Kelley, 2004). They need to be cognizant of not only their mistakes, but the mistakes of those making the decisions before them. Therefore, nurses should not be constantly asked to work overtime because that is how mistakes are missed or made (Kelley, 2004). Nurses should sharpen their saws between shifts and their days off, only then can they perform their absolute

Imogene King is one of many influential women to make a lasting impact on nursing. The theory of goal attainment, a theory she created, is a middle-range theory that discusses the influence nurses and patients collectively have on goal setting. For anyone in the healthcare field, King’s theory is important in that it helps healthcare workers understand the way they should interact with patients; the theory also discusses individualized goals for the patient. Healthcare is always changing; however, one thing that has not changed is the notion of setting goals and evaluating the patient’s achievements. King “urged nursing professionals to focus on the organization of nursing knowledge, arguing that a theoretical body of knowledge was necessary

Nursing theory plays a significant role in guiding clinical practice. Theory is the core of how knowledge is applied in the clinical setting. It established a foundation and framework to set forth the principles of nursing and identifies how nursing is a unique profession (Alejandro, 2017). Theory guides nursing actions that are provided at the bedside. Theories are necessary to formulate how nurses provide care and influence nurses in challenging situations that occur. Imogene King’s theory of goal attainment is unique and describes interpersonal and dynamic relationships designed at attaining patients’ life goals, which signifies importance to the advancement in nursing clinical practice. King’s theory relied heavily