Exposing Compassion Fatigue and Burnout Syndrome in a Trauma Team

Abstract

Compassion fatigue (CF) and burnout syndrome (BOS) are identified in trauma, emergency, and critical care nursing practices. The purpose of this qualitative study was to measure CF and BOS in a trauma team and allow them to share perceptions of related stress triggers and coping strategies. Surveys to measure CF and BOS and a focus group allowed a trauma team (12 practitioners) to share perceptions of related stress triggers and coping strategies. More than half scored at risk for CF and BOS. Stress triggers were described as situation (abuse, age of patient) versus injury-related. Personal coping mechanisms were most often reported. Both CF and BOS can be assessed with a simple survey tool. Strategies for developing a program culturally sensitive to CF and BOS are provided.

A Cross‐sectional Analysis of Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, and Compassion Satisfaction in Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physicians in the United States

“…Although their impact upon a provider's wellness and job performance may be profound, CF and CS have not been well studied in PEM physicians. This is in stark contrast to the myriad literature on physician BO . Due to ongoing exposure to the emotional challenges of providing frontline care to children, we hypothesize that PEM physicians are at risk for developing CF.…”

“…Pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) physicians function at the frontline of pediatric health care, and with this privilege comes a distinct set of challenges and emotional stressors. While providing medical care for acutely ill children and working closely with families at a time of heightened stress, PEM physicians also function as child protection advocates alert for signs of nonaccidental trauma, sexual abuse, and neglect . Bearing witness to child abuse has been identified as a major stress trigger in trauma care providers .…”

“…While providing medical care for acutely ill children and working closely with families at a time of heightened stress, PEM physicians also function as child protection advocates alert for signs of nonaccidental trauma, sexual abuse, and neglect . Bearing witness to child abuse has been identified as a major stress trigger in trauma care providers . While PEM physicians face the death of a child infrequently, it is particularly distressing when it occurs .…”

Caring for Critically Ill Patients: Clinicians’ Empathy Promotes Job Satisfaction and Does Not Predict Moral Distress

“…Clinicians working in critical care settings are often exposed to emotionally and ethically challenging clinical situations (Donchin and Seagull, 2002). Recent studies showed that working in critical care settings may expose clinicians to stress-related conditions such as burnout, secondary traumatic stress, moral distress, and depression (Embriaco et al, 2007a(Embriaco et al, ,b, 2012Berg et al, 2016;Moss et al, 2016;Lamiani et al, 2018). A common belief among clinicians is that being empathic could make them more vulnerable to the patients' and families' suffering and therefore may be a risk factor for their emotional wellbeing (Tanriverdi, 2013;Kerasidou and Horn, 2016).…”

Debrief in Emergency Departments to Improve Compassion Fatigue and Promote Resiliency

“…Psychological symptoms include anxiety, avoidance, hyperarousal, memory problems, poor concentration, poor judgment, intrusive thoughts, and lack of compassion (Boyle, 2011;ENA, 2014;Makic, 2015). Symptoms can impact providers' functioning in their personal lives, which worsens the effects of compassion fatigue in the workplace (Berg, Harshbarger, Ahlers-Schmidt, & Lippoldt, 2016;Crowe, 2016;Sorenson et al, 2016). Adverse experiences in nurses' personal lives can also increase their risks for developing compassion fatigue at work.…”