COMPASSION FETIGUE and BURNED OUT - Essay Example

Though under these conditions, the healthcare service providers may continue to provide their services however, their natural urge and tendency to provide the care as well as the compassion can decrease too. However, with right tools and techniques this could be averted and the caregivers can actually rehabilitate themselves to provide the same level of support and care to their patients. As a part of the renewal process, the caregivers can actually recharge their batteries and renew themselves to revive their hopes and provide the same level of compassion and care to their patients.

In this paper, the nature and extent of the compassion fatigue will be discussed besides explaining the emotional, spiritual as well as physical needs of the caregivers besides discussing as to how the caregivers can actually cope with this. Compassion Fatigue Over the period of time, as the healthcare services providers cope with the system and become regular in treating and caring their customers, a tendency starts to develop in them which can result into strong physical, spiritual as well as emotional burnout for them. . The demands of managed care therefore are creating strong influences over the healthcare service providers to deliver a certain level of service to their patients and clients.

However, as the interaction of the patients and healthcare givers increases, there emerges a tendency which can actually compromise the professional ability of the caregivers. (Jeffrey R. Funk, 2004) What is also important to note that the compassion fatigue often results into certain emotional, spiritual as well as physical symptoms which can further compromise the ability of the caregivers to provide proper care services. The emergence of feelings of hopelessness, negative attitude as well as feeling sick and tired may cause strong physical and emotional burnout for the caregivers.

It is therefore critical that these needs of the caregivers are taken care of. Physical, Spiritual and Emotional Needs of the caregivers Caregiving can often become a 24 hrs job which can potentially sap the energy and will out of the caregivers. A typical caregiver spends most of his or her time to take care of the patients or dependents and resultantly develop symptoms which can be detrimental to his own health. One of the key physical symptoms of the compassion fatigue is the lack of sleep which can start to take its toll on the body of the caregiver.

Sustained level of insomnia or sleeplessness therefore can result into significant physical health problems for the caregivers. It has been argued that the brain’s frontal lobe depends upon the adequate sleep and rest to perform effectively and in the absence of quality sleep, certain emotional responses or reactions could emerge too. (Endicott, 2011) It is