This manuscript provides practitioners a gateway into understanding assessment instruments for compassion fatigue. We first describe and then evaluate the leading assessments of compassion fatigue in terms of their reliability and their validity. Although different instruments have different foci, each described instrument measures at least one component of compassion fatigue. The final section discusses three factors in selecting a compassion fatigue measure: the assessment domain or aspect of compassion fatigue to be measured; simultaneous measurement, and; timeframe of what is being measured. Finally, we caution about interpreting scores since the measures were developed as screening devices.

This article places social work clinicians' compassion fatigue, burnout, and other negative consequences in a broader context of positive social work. We argue for a paradigm shift towards identifying the factors that lead clinical social workers toward human flourishing in their field. We introduce a model for creating ''compassion satisfaction'' or feelings of fulfillment with clients, rooted in positive psychology and expanded to incorporate the social work perspective. The model suggests that affect, work resources, and self-care influence clinicians' positivity-negativity ratio, which in turn can result in compassion satisfaction. To maximize compassion satisfaction, research, education, and training should consider how classroom instruction and workplace policies can promote the most success among clinical social workers.

We surveyed randomly selected parents in one state (N = 1, 081) to examine sources they used to gain child‐rearing information. On average, parents used five sources, most commonly books and family members. Usage patterns generally followed the “digital divide” perspective whereby higher education levels were associated with greater usage. Logistic regression results of Internet use showed, however, that being younger and unmarried increased the likelihood of use, indicating the Internet's potential for reaching potentially vulnerable parents.

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