Compassion Fatigue and Compassion Satisfaction in Pediatric Intensive Care Professionals

Abstract

Background: Paediatric ICU doctors and nurses’ quality of professional life is influenced by the intense emotions and distress experienced when caring for suffering children and their families. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of compassion satisfaction (CS) and compassion fatigue (CF) in Paediatric Intensive Care Units in Greece. Methods: Out of 147 intensive care professionals in public hospitals in Greece completed the ProQOL-V scale as well as a socio-demographic and professional-life characteristics questionnaire. Results: Almost two thirds of participants reported medium-risk for CF (74.8%) while 23.1% and 76.9% of professionals expressed high or medium potential for CS respectively. More than half of doctors and nurses in paediatric ICUs report being overprotective towards members of the family as a result of their professional life and that their work-life affects their attitude towards life in general. Conclusion: Recognizing factors related to CF may support paediatric intensive care professionals in avoiding the costs of exposure to the trauma and loss experiences of patients and their families. A trauma-informed intensive care culture and continuing trauma-informed education may shield professionals from the erosive effects of lingering emotions which may trigger secondary traumatic stress symptoms and also facilitate adequate reflection on their emotional reactions in the landscape of intensive care.

Compassion Satisfaction, Burnout, and Secondary Traumatic Stress among Respiratory Therapists in Mississippi: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Recent research has found that healthcare workers have experienced heightened levels of burnout and higher levels of compassion when compared with the pre-pandemic [4,10]. Our study did not find any statistically significant associations between CS, BO, or STS and gender and age.…”

“…Participants who indicated treating only pediatric patients showed the lowest BO and STS scores, while those who indicated caring for adult and pediatric patients reported the highest BO and STS scores. In contrast, Panagou et al [10] found moderate levels of BO and STS among providers treating pediatric Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients, which was attributed to the severity of the patients being treated and the negative outcomes associated with pediatric patients in the ICU.…”

“…Overall, our study found that the years of employment in the same facility and the years of working in the field of respiratory therapy are statistically associated with BO and STS. It may be beneficial for organizations to establish or strengthen existing support services for respiratory therapists and other front-line healthcare workers to increase retention and quality of life while mitigating burnout and secondary traumatic stress [10].…”