Compassion Fatigue Issues in Healthcare - Essay Example

? Compassion Fatigue Compassion Fatigue Introduction Compassion fatigue in the healthcare context happens when healthcare caregivers or the professionals begin to feel the pain and suffering for the patients they care for. This occurs in the sense that they begin to lose their inherent nature of self to the people whom they help, offering more help and compassion than they themselves get back in order for them to feel that their work is appreciated or validated. This affects the caregiver and the effects are physical, emotional or spiritual in nature. Compassion fatigue can be experienced by any person close to the individual in need of the care, especially those who try to go out of their way to help the person suffering, and this compromises their lives. The compromise may be in the form of disruption in the performance of duties or personal relationships, or at times may lead to the change of personality of a person. Compassion fatigue exhibits itself in a number of ways through evident signs and symptoms. The most visible sign that a person is suffering from compassion fatigue is the fact that the person is tense and preoccupied with the individual in need of care and his/her disease. Signs that a person is suffering from compassion fatigue may include avoiding or the numbing of the feelings of the caregiver or avoiding certain thoughts or situations of the patient. The caregiver may suffer lapses of memories and may also show a consistent character of being tired despite sleeping for adequate number of hours or, conversely, suffer from insomnia. The caregiver may also start to absent him/herself from work, and other signs may include emotional depletion due to too much caring for the sick and loss of interest in activities that were enjoyed previously. The caregiver also loses self-esteem, is susceptible to anger, depression and irritability and may find it difficult to find happiness or hope. There is also evident decreased productivity at both the workplace and home. A caregiver should try to avoid the complications that may make him/her suffer from the effects of compassion fatigue. There are many ways of avoiding compassion fatigue, and these are majorly the individual becoming more withdrawn due to the problem or the caregiver choosing to leave the job altogether. The physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the caregiver should be met in order that the person does not suffer from the effects of compassion fatigue. Understanding one’s needs as a caregiver helps one to accept what is happening and may assist in avoiding compassion fatigue. Therefore, being in control of physical needs as a caregiver is important for better healthcare and wellbeing. The caregiver should look after his own health through better nutrition, regular exercise and enough sleep to keep compassion fatigue at bay. Taking care of his/her emotional needs like avoiding instances or events that may lead one to depression should be considered. This can be achieved through referring to previous instances in which the caregiver has endured and coped emotionally. Accepting how one feels and express the feelings, for example, one may reflect on her/his sadness and happiness while at the same time maintaining a sense of humor. Spiritual needs like one’s faith are important for the caregiver and through their consideration, one is able to avoid falling into the trap of compassion fatigue (Ekedahl and Wengstro?m, 2008). This can be relieved by understanding that death is inevitable and occurs at some point in the lifetime of a person. Spiritual needs can be provided by the family, faith or the nature, and the caregiver must be in a position to comprehend the possibility of losing the patient they are taking care of. Strategies for Coping with Compassion Fatigue Taking care of oneself as a caregiver increases his/her ability to provide for the person in need of the palliative care. This is because one will be able to handle the increased physical and emotional pressures that the work of care giving places on one’s shoulders. The caregiver must first accept that she/he may need help from others such as from friends, family, mental health professionals or an online support group. It is important that the caregiver sets realistic expectations by knowing the limits of taking compassion fatigue or work related stress. The caregiver must therefore eat properly, involve her/himself in regular exercises and have adequate sleep. Hospitals and healthcare facilities are places which have a large pool of employees who are continuously exposed either physically or mentally to the clinical tasks. The risks that come with these factors require reconciliation with the regulations at the workplace. This therefore requires that nurses adopt special competencies that will enable them improve and integrate their daily clinical life of care giving. Therefore, the caregivers can reduce the work stress and compassion fatigue through better health promoting lifestyles and coping strategies. This could be through solution focused model that focuses on the care to be provided at hand or in future and not the past (Gupta and Woodman, 2010). Research has concluded that nurses have the greatest pressures on their work and, therefore, have devised ways of coping with the stresses experienced. However, this happens only in instances when hospitals have put in place good relationships and good atmosphere to ensure a realization of proper healthcare that promotes the well-being of the caregivers. The research shows that when there is pressure generated by the workplace, the caregiver uses different strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of work stress and compassion fatigue (Chen et al., 2009). The same studies show that it is important that the caregiver maintains equilibrium between the work environment and health, which has the effect of improving the wellbeing of patients and being positive to the appraisal of the hospital. Moreover, it is significant that the caregiver is encouraged to live and control their life habits that will ultimately lead to improved health. Support strategies by the caregivers can be used to help the caregivers who may be experiencing the work burnout or stress to cope. This will entail health responsibility and self-actualization coupled with proper nutrition that positively affects the health and lifestyle of the caregiver (Chen et al., 2009). Hospitals are therefore encouraged to provide a healthy and harmonious atmosphere at the place of work through formulation of suitable policies that takes the interests of the caregivers seriously. The hospitals may provide adequate equipment for the safety of the caregivers and their patients and increase the uptake of courses aimed at relieving stress both qualitatively and quantitatively. Programs aimed at raising the self-esteem of patients are important in empowering the caregivers to develop proper stress coping strategies (Chen et al, 2009). Conclusion Caring for patients with terminal illness can lead to compassion fatigue at times, stress or burnout to the person offering the palliative care. It is almost impossible for one person to provide all the care as an individual, and it is therefore important for the caregiver to understand his/her needs through taking breaks and sharing one’s feelings and tasks in order not to be overwhelmed. Seek support in cases where one thinks that he/she is likely not to offer the best care as required of them, or in cases when one might feel that he/she is being overly sympathetic to the patient. References Chen, C. K., Lin, C., Wang, S. H., & Hou, T. H. (2009). A study of job stress, stress coping strategies, and job satisfaction for nurses working in middle-level hospital operating rooms. The Journal of Nursing Research : Jnr, 17, 3, 199-211. Ekedahl, M., & Wengstro?m, Y. (2008). Coping processes in a multidisciplinary healthcare team--a comparison of nurses in cancer care and hospital chaplains. European Journal of Cancer Care, 17, 1, 42-8. Gupta, V., & Woodman, C. (2010). Managing stress in a palliative care team. Paediatric Nursing, 22, 10, 14-8. Read More