Compassion Fatigue

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Compassion Fatigue There are many barriers that can affect a nurse’s ability to provide compassionate care. One of these barriers is compassion fatigue which can influence compassionate care in nursing because it affects the nurse as well as the patient. Often referred to as ‘burnout’, the condition is caused by mental and physical exhaustion due to caring for patients who have demanding physical, emotional and psychological needs. Compassion is not only about having feelings of empathy for someone it is about how one acts upon those feelings, Von Dietze (2001) says “Compassion implies that there is a deeper level of participation in the suffering of another person”. This shows that nurses can become deeply involved in the pain and suffering…show more content…
The endless amounts of paperwork involved in patient care and responsibility can cause a nurse to sacrifice time with patients in order to complete it. This can cause patients to feel neglected and in need of further care because the nurse has not spent a lot of time with them or has been rushed in providing basic care. Pressure from superiors within the workplace could compromise compassionate care as nurses feel pressure from management to produce a higher turnover of patients resulting in less time spent with individual patients. Interprofessional relationships and teamwork within the workplace can also affect a nurse’s level of compassion as it affects overall job performance and satisfaction. New technologies in health care can be a compassion barrier as it can reduce one-on-one contact with patients leaving them to feel neglected, uninformed and often scared. Halder (2005) believes that “Technology shouldn’t place barriers; it should enhance interaction” (pg 4). Technology is more likely to affect older patients as they may not understand it as well as younger patients because they aren’t used to…show more content…
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