StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Combating Compassion Fatigue - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Combating Compassion fatigue Name: University: Combating Compassion fatigue Introduction Compassion fatigue is a burnout which is evidenced by physical, spiritual and emotional exhaustion. Compassion fatigue disorder has escalated over the past years since caregivers have do more paperwork, have lesser autonomy and have to negotiate various contracts with patients (Figley, 2002)…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER96.4% of users find it useful
Combating Compassion Fatigue
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Combating Compassion Fatigue"

Download file to see previous pages

Work related signs of compassion fatigue include frequent absenteeism from work, reduced empathy towards the patients and avoidance in dealing with certain patients. Serious signs of compassion fatigue include feelings of hopelessness, low self-esteem, gastrointestinal complaints, and hypertension (Miller, 2012). Physical exhaustion that is also referred as burnout is an initial sign of compassion fatigue. Some signs of physical exhaustion include irritability, feelings of anxiety and excessive emotional numbness.

Other signs that accompany burnout include difficulty in sleeping and reduced empathy. Some causes of burnout include the attitudes towards work such as the caregiver’s beliefs and attitudes towards the complex patients and lack of peer support (Hayes, 2009). This phase is usually preceded by idealism whereby the caregiver is always committed to working hard with little time for relaxation. The caregiver usually accepts many responsibilities and forms close relationships with peers. The physical exhaustion is evidenced by both emotional and behavioral symptoms of the caregiver.

The emotional signs include a decline in the sense of accomplishment while behavioral signs include withdrawal from responsibilities and alcohol abuse (Figley, 2002). The second concept of compassion fatigue is characterized by emotional exhaustion. Some warning signs include unreasonable expectations, and lack of emotional control whereby the caregiver is easily frustrated by lack of money or difficult patients (Figley, 2002). The caregiver usually experiences nightmares, and increased psychological arousal that leads to grief and sadness.

Some other visible signs include changes in assumptions, decline in intimacy and detachment from social groups (Figley, 2002). The other concept of compassion fatigue is apathy which is the lack of interests or concern for patients or family members. The caregiver usually feels hopeless and isolated from the rest of society (Miller, 2012). The caregiver will exhibit an active avoidance of all care giving situations and emotional disengagement even towards close relatives like spouses. The fourth concept of compassion fatigue for caregivers is depression.

This is mainly caused by traumatic memories. Some warning signs of depression include constant memory flashbacks of traumatic events, feeling cynical, difficulties in sleeping and irritability of the caregiver (Figley, 2002). The last concept of compassion fatigue for caregivers is impaired judgment (Miller, 2012). Some warning signs for impaired judgment of the caregiver include constant absenteeism from work, low self-esteem and avoiding attending to difficult patients. Physical exhaustion and emotional disillusionment coupled with negative attitudes towards work will contribute to impaired judgment of the caregiver.

The long-term effects of compassion fatigue include drug and alcohol abuse, diminished sense of personal accomplishments and reduced sense of personal control and safety (Figley, 2002). The caregiver may also experience somatic symptoms such as sweating, pains, headaches, and impaired immune system (Hayes, 2009). Some of causes of physical exhaustion include stressful work whereby the caregiver tries to accomplish many roles within limited resources. Other causes include

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Combating Compassion Fatigue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1”, n.d.)
Combating Compassion Fatigue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/nursing/1457642-combating-compassion-fatigue
(Combating Compassion Fatigue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words - 1)
Combating Compassion Fatigue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words - 1. https://studentshare.org/nursing/1457642-combating-compassion-fatigue.
“Combating Compassion Fatigue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words - 1”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/nursing/1457642-combating-compassion-fatigue.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Combating Compassion Fatigue

Vicarious Traumatisation and Critical Incident Stress

Combating Compassion Fatigue Care giving services and professions are considered as noble in nature and rewarding in experience.... The mental, emotional and physical stress that results in providing care with compassion is termed as compassion fatigue.... Unless the individual, who becomes a victim of compassion fatigue, takes measures at the onset of the illness, it could take severe turn in perpetually damaging the nervous system and mental health....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Homeopathic Treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

As far as the present methods are considered there is no treatment that is considered to be universal, regarding the chronic fatigue syndrome.... The fatigue chronic syndrome must have a clear focus.... 1 The aim of this study is to analyse the efficacy of the homeopathic treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome and evaluate it.... The outcomes of the study according to Oxford criteria were the scores that are sub scales for multidimensional fatigue inventory....
8 Pages (2000 words) Research Proposal

Reposition Sense of the Knee Joint

Low Back Pain (LBP) is one of the most common problems encountered in orthopedic practice nowadays as it is a condition which causes significant morbidity to the patient and is potentially disabling.... It has been defined as "pain, muscle tension, or stiffness localized below the costal margin and above the inferior gluteal folds, with or without leg pain (sciatica) (MTABC, 2004)....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a poorly understood condition and affects 250000 people in the UK and more than 1 million people in the United States by a new estimate just about to be published by the CDC (CFS, NHS; Harder, 2006).... Known also as myalgic encephalomyelitis, CFS… The syndrome has been more commonly diagnosed in women (Yamamoto et al, 2003) and the age of occurrence is between 20 years and 40 years (Harder, 2006)....
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay

Powder Metallurgy Of Stainless Steel

The dissertation entitled "Powder Metallurgy Of Stainless Steel" explores the activity of this metallurgy.... According to the text, stainless steel, a class of ferrous alloys, is well-known for their resistance to corrosion, creep and other applications including high temperatures.... nbsp;… Due to the increasing demand of powder metallurgy (PM) components made of stainless steel in a span variety of applications, including aerospace, automotive, chemical processing and biomedical field, it becomes of a great interest in the research domain....
53 Pages (13250 words) Dissertation

Combating Compassion Fatigue

compassion fatigue happens because of much or prolonged periods of being exposed to traumatic events (Bush, 2009).... These traumas make their work There are five concepts of compassion fatigue that include emotional, somatic, cognitive, behavioral and spiritual concepts.... All these concepts have certain warning signs to show that one is in the brink of experiencing compassion fatigue....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

The Concept of Fatigue in the Discipline of Materials Engineering

The paper "The Concept of fatigue in the Discipline of Materials Engineering" highlights that the critical difference between creep and fatigue lies in examining the consequences of the application of each concept.... The outcome of creep as compared to fatigue is that it is attributable to the occurrence of lasting deformation.... nbsp;However, as time progressed the trend in crack growth for creep became essentially intergranular and depicted differing patterns in comparison with the fatigue sample....
7 Pages (1750 words) Assignment

Exploration of Pilot Fatigue and Sleep Factors

It uncovered that there are a number of important aspects, and areas that contribute to fatigue factors that can escape the notice of pilots regarding their physical and mental state.... hellip; The motivation for this study represents the issue of public safety and information dissemination concerning the dangers of varied forms of pilot fatigue.... It was uncovered that fatigue can develop slowly and build to the point where an individual is unaware that they are suffering from acute or chronic fatigue that impacts their mental and physical state....
6 Pages (1500 words) Literature review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us