Preventing Compassion Fatigue among Palliative Care Nurses

Running head: RESEARCH ESSAY
Research essay
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RESEARCH ESSAY
Introduction:
Compassion fatigue or secondary traumatic stress (STS) can be understood as a
condition which results in a reduction in the sense of compassion among people over time.
This phenomenon is frequently seen among workers who are involved in the care of
individuals who have experienced disasters, trauma or illness such as healthcare workers,
relief workers, child protection workers as well as firefighters, rescue workers, social support
workers, journalists, paramedics and emergency medical teams (Hinderer et al., 2014).
Compassion fatigue can occur due to repeated exposure to secondary traumatic stress which
erodes their ability to show compassion to others can develop symptoms such as
hopelessness, reduced pleasure from work, anxiety, sleeplessness and depression.
Compassion fatigue can adversely affect the performance and productivity of care workers;
reduce their job satisfaction and ability to focus on work as well as having negative
psychological impact on them.
Specific Aims:
The aim of this study is to identify the best approaches that can be used to prevent
compassion fatigue among nurses working in palliative care units and thereby mitigate the
impact of repeated exposure to secondary traumatic stress and patient suffering. The study
therefore aims to explore strategies that can be used to protect the mental health as well as
productivity of palliative care nurses from repeated exposure to patient suffering.
Background and Significance:
Nurses working in Palliative care are regularly exposed to suffering of the patients
while providing the patients an end of life care and supporting the patient’s family as well as