Compassion fatigue är ett psykiskt och fysiskt tillstånd som utvecklas över tid när sjuksköterskan känner medkänsla och empati för sina patienter, då resultatet visar att stödjande insatser kan hjälpa att förebygga tillståndet hos sjuksköterskor borde detta fenomen lyftas fram. Compassion fatigue kan påverka sjuksköterskans koncentrations- och bedömningsförmåga och resultera i att olika misstag i arbetet begås. Compassion fatigue är ett problem för sjukvården i stort, eftersom tillståndet påverkar omvårdnaden, arbetssituationen samt den enskilda sjuksköterskan negativt. Syftet med litteraturstudien var att belysa compassion fatigue ur ett sjuksköterskeperspektiv, i vilken studiens teoretiska utgångspunkt var Joyce Travelbees interaktionsteori. Studien genomfördes som en allmän litteraturstudie, databassökning gjordes systematiskt med sökord som var relevanta för syftet. Litteraturstudien baserades på tre kvalitativa och åtta kvantitativa artiklar som analyserades och kvalitetsgranskades. Resultatet visade att Bidragande orsaker till compassion fatigue, Upplevelser relaterat till compassion fatigue och Att förebygga compassion fatigue. Med en insikt om att hög arbetsbelastning och en hög stressnivå hos sjuksköterskor kan leda till compassion fatigue går det att arbeta preventivt, vilket är det mest effektiva. Detta skulle bespara både vårdpersonal och patienter lidande och förbättra kvaliteten i omvårdnaden. Vidare forskning skulle kunna ligga till grund för fortsatt förbättringsarbete inom klinisk verksamhet. / Compassion fatigue is a mental and physical condition that develops over time when the nurse feels compassion and empathy for her patients, since the results show that supportive interventions can help prevent the condition, this phenomenon should be emphasized. Compassion fatigue can lead to changes in the nurse's ability to concentrate and judge and result in various mistakes in the work. Compassion fatigue is a major concern for healthcare as the condition adversely affects the nursing, the work situation and the individual nurse. The purpose of the literature study was to emphasize compassion fatigue from a nursing perspective, in which the theoretical starting point of the study was Joyce Travelbee's interaction theory. The study was conducted as a general literature study, database search was done systematically with keywords that were relevant to the aim. The literature study was based on three qualitative and eight quantitative articles that were analyzed and quality-reviewed. The results show Contributing causes of Compassion Fatigue, Experiences Related to Fatigue and Preventing Compassion Fatigue. With an insight that high workload and a high levels of stress in nurses can lead to compassion fatigue, one can work preventively, which is most effective. This would save both healthcare and patients suffering and improving the quality of nursing care. Further research could provide a basis for continued improvement work in clinical operations.

Psykisk ohälsa ökar för de flesta grupper i Sverige, men minoritetsgrupper är mer utsatta än andra. Syftet med vår studie var att ta reda på hur situationen ser ut för HBTQI-individer i Sverige och skapa underlag för att kunna underlätta för denna utsatta grupp. Utifrån Meyers minoritetsstressmodell och Neffs definition av självmedkänsla vill vi svara på frågan om det finns något samband mellan minoritetsstress och psykisk hälsa hos HBTQI-individer och om självmedkänsla i så fall medierar detta förhållande. Deltagarna bestod av svensktalande personer över 18 år som identifierar sig som HBTQI. Dessa rekryterades via Facebook och andra internetbaserade forum. Mätinstrumentet var en online-enkät där konstruktet psykisk hälsa definierades som grad av ångest- och nedstämdhetssymtomatologi och grad av livskvalitet. Enkäten mätte även konstrukten självmedkänsla och minoritetsstress. Resultaten visade att det finns ett signifikant positivt samband mellan graden av minoritetsstress och graden av ångest- och nedstämdhetssymtomatologi. Högre grader självmedkänsla var kopplat till lägre grader psykisk ohälsa och högre grader livskvalitet. Självmedkänsla var kopplat till proximal minoritetsstress men inte distal minoritetsstress. En mediationsanalys visade att självmedkänsla har en signifikant medierande effekt på förhållandet mellan minoritetsstress och psykisk ohälsa. Sammanfattningsvis visade sig självmedkänsla vara en viktig faktor för att förstå förhållandet mellan minoritetsstress och psykisk ohälsa och är därmed något som framtida interventioner mot psykisk ohälsa hos HBTQI-individer bör fokusera på. / Mental illness is increasing in Sweden, and minority groups are more at risk than others. The purpose of our study was to determine what the situation is for LGBTQ-individuals in Sweden and create a basis to aid this group. Based on Meyer's minority stress model and Neff’s definition of self-compassion, we want to answer the question regarding if there is a connection between minority stress and mental health in LGBTQ-individuals, and if self-compassion mediates this relationship. The participants consisted of Swedish-speaking people over the age of 18 that self-identify as LGBTQ. These were recruited via Facebook and other internet-based forums. The measurement was an online-survey where the construct mental health was defined as degree of anxiety- and depression symptomatology as well as quality of life. The survey also measured the constructs self-compassion and minority stress. The results showed a significant positive relationship between minority stress and degree of anxiety- and depression symptomatology. Higher degrees of self-compassion were related to lower degrees of mental illness and higher degrees of quality of life. Self-compassion was related to proximal minority stress but not distal minority stress. A mediation analysis showed that self-compassion has a significant mediating effect on the relationship between minority stress and mental illness. In conclusion, self-compassion was proven to be an important factor in understanding the relationship between minority stress and mental illness and is therefore something future interventions targeting mental health in the LGBTQ community should focus on.

Body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors are significant public health concerns, especially among college-age women. Despite extensive research, the complex nature of disordered eating and its etiology has prevented a satisfactory predictive model from being developed and validated and has therefore hindered the development of effective prevention and intervention strategies. This study aimed to integrate four of the most common etiological theories into a model to predict disordered eating behaviors. Bivariate correlations and moderation analyses were conducted to determine the strength of relationships between variables and to determine whether a protective factor (i.e., self-compassion) moderates the effects of risk factors (i.e., media exposure, thin-ideal internalization, negative affect) on body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and bulimic behaviors. Results indicated that there were correlations between negative affect, thin-ideal internalization, and disordered eating behaviors. Contrary to hypotheses, media exposure had significant relationships with both bulimia and body dissatisfaction but was not significantly associated with thin-ideal internalization. Broadly, negative affect and thin-ideal internalization predicted disordered eating behaviors. Finally, self-compassion did not emerge as a consistent moderator of the relationship between the three risk factors and disordered eating behaviors – except with drive for thinness. Findings have potential implications for mental and physical healthcare interventions to reduce symptom experiences and increase well-being.

Bakgrund: Sjuksköterskor ställs dagligen inför etiska dilemman, komplexa situationer, lidande och sorg. Empati och medkänsla anses vara grundläggande inom omvårdnad, även om det idag råder en osäkerhet om begreppens innebörd. Lagar och förordningar pekar på empati och medkänsla som viktiga komponenter för en god vård. Vårdkvaliteten enligt patienter avgörs av upplevelsen av kommunikation, förståelse och medkänsla, vilket även visat sig avgörande för utfallet av den medicinska behandlingen. Syfte: Att beskriva sjuksköterskors upplevelser av empati och medkänsla i omvårdnadsarbetet. Metod: En litteraturstudie med beskrivande design. Artiklar söktes i MEDLINE via PubMed. Totalt inkluderades 14 kvalitativa artiklar i litteraturstudiens resultat. Huvudresultat: Genom tematisk analys resulterade litteraturstudien i att sjuksköterskors upplevelser av empati och medkänsla bestod av två huvudteman samt sex underteman. I det första huvudtemat beskrivs hur inre faktorer såsom personliga egenskaper och värderingar hos sjuksköterskor inverkar på deras empati och medkänsla. I det andra huvudtemat beskrivs hur yttre faktorer såsom organisation och kontext inverkar på sjuksköterskor empati och medkänsla. Slutsats: Oavsett om det råder en osäkerhet eller inte om empati och medkänsla som begrepp, så visar resultatet att empati och medkänsla som fenomen påverkas av inre och yttre faktorer enligt sjuksköterskor. Fenomenet upplevs påverka sjuksköterskors arbete, likväl upplever sjuksköterskor att de påverkas av de upplevelser och erfarenheter som omvårdnadsarbete medför. Tydligast visar resultatet att organisationen tillsammans med personliga värderingar har en avgörande betydelse för att öka medvetenheten och skapa förbättringsmöjligheter inom omvårdnadsarbetet. / Background: Nurses are daily faced with ethical dilemmas, complex situations, suffering and grief. Empathy and compassion are considered fundamental in nursing, even though today there is uncertainty about the meaning of the concepts. Laws and regulations point to empathy and compassion as important components for good care. The quality of care according to patients is determined by the experience of communication, understanding and compassion, which has also proved crucial for the outcome of the medical treatment. Aim: To describe nurses' experiences of empathy and compassion in the nursing practice. Method: A literature study with descriptive design. Articles were searched in MEDLINE via PubMed. A total of 14 qualitative articles were included in the results of the literature study. Main results: Through thematic analysis, the literature study resulted in nurses' experiences of empathy and compassion consisting of two main themes and six sub-themes. The first main theme describes how internal factors such as personal characteristics and values ​​of nurses affect their empathy and compassion. The second main theme describes how external factors such as organization and context affect nurses' empathy and compassion. Conclusion: Regardless of whether there is uncertainty or not about empathy and compassion as concepts, the results show that empathy and compassion as a phenomenon are affected by internal and external factors according to nurses. The phenomenon is perceived to affect the work of nurses, just as well as nurses are affected by the experiences that nursing work entails. The results most clearly show that organizations, together with personal values, has a crucial role to play in raising awareness and creating opportunities for improvement.

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The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which family therapy students used their spiritual and/or religious beliefs as a resource for preventing clinical burnout and in their self-care practices. Additionally, this study sought to explore the specific ways or strategies that students used their spiritual beliefs in their personal and professional lives. Participants were master’s and doctoral students from programs accredited by the Commission on the Accreditation of Marriage and Family Therapy (COAMFTE). A total of 341 students participated in the study. The results demonstrated that the majority of students reported that they used their spiritual and/or religious beliefs as an important resource for preventing burnout and for self-care. Additionally, thematic analysis revealed several different themes regarding the specific spiritual practices participants used within their personal and professional lives.

abstract: Interpersonal strain is linked with depressive symptoms in middle-aged adults. Self-compassion is an emerging resilience construct that may be advantageous in navigating relationship strain by helping individuals respond to emotions in a kind and nonjudgmental way. Although theory and empirical evidence suggests that self-compassion is protective against the impact of stress on mental health outcomes, many studies have not investigated how self-compassion operates in the context of relationship strain. In addition, few studies have examined psychological or physiological mechanisms by which self-compassion protects against mental health outcomes, depression in particular. Thus, this study examined 1) the extent to which trait self-compassion buffers the relation between family strain and depressive symptoms, and 2) whether these buffering effects are mediated by hope and inflammatory processes (IL-6) in a sample of 762 middle-aged, community-dwelling adults. Results from structural equation models indicated that family strain was unrelated to depressive symptoms and the relation was not moderated by self-compassion. Hope, but not IL-6, mediated the relation between family strain and depressive symptoms and the indirect effect was not conditional on levels of self-compassion. Taken together, the findings suggest that family strain may lead individuals to experience less hope and subsequent increases in depressive symptoms, and further, that a self-compassionate attitude does not affect this relation. Implications for future self-compassion interventions are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2019

Bakgrund: Medkänsla är en viktig del av omvårdnaden och en egenskap sjuksköterskan förväntas ha. Medkännande omvårdnad innebär ett moraliskt agerande där aktiva handlingar avser att lindra lidande, vilket möjliggör ett partnerskap grundat på tillit mellan patienten och sjuksköterskan. Trots att medkännande omvårdnad innebär samhälleliga vinster saknas det ibland i vården. Om medkänsla betraktas som en huvudkompetens kan den bli ett kraftfullt stöd i förverkligandet av god omvårdnad. Syfte: Att beskriva sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av medkännande omvårdnad för vuxna patienter i en somatisk slutenvårdskontext. Metod: En litteraturstudie genomfördes där tio kvalitativa artiklar analyserades genom tematisk analys. Resultat: Analysen visade att utövandet av medkännande omvårdnad förfinas i takt med ökad arbetslivserfarenhet. Förmågan att utöva medkännande omvårdnad ansågs bero på personliga faktorer såväl som förhållandet mellan patienten och sjuksköterskan. Organisatoriska aspekter såsom arbetsmiljö, där tid ansågs vara en avgörande faktor, kan påverka den medkännande omvårdnaden. Slutsats: Sjuksköterskor behöver erfarenhet och stöd för att utföra medkännande omvårdnad och därmed öka omvårdnadens kvalitet. Mängden disponibel tid är en viktig arbetsmiljöfaktor som påverkar partnerskap och sjuksköterskans förmåga att ha ett holistiskt synsätt. Vidare forskning rekommenderas. Det finns behov av att implementera medkännande omvårdnad som kunskapsområde i sjuksköterskeutbildningen. / Background: Compassion is fundamental in nursing care and is also a trait the nurse is expected to have. Compassionate nursing care defines as a moral act where the actions aim to relieve suffering. It is an important facilitator for the patient’s trust towards the nurse. Lack of compassion can partly explain health care deficiencies. Defining compassion as a main competence would enhance the realization of compassionate nursing care. Aim: The aim of the study was to describe nurses’ experiences of compassionate nursing care for adults in a somatic hospital setting. Method: A literature study based on ten qualitative articles was conducted with a thematic analysis. Results: Compassionate nursing care refines as experience grows. Compassion is influenced by the nurse’s traits. Furthermore, a holistic approach is needed for compassionate nursing care. Organizational aspects such as the work environment may also have an impact. Conclusion: To perform compassionate nursing care and thereby enhancing the quality of care, nurses need experience and support. The amount of available time affects the creation of partnership and the nurse’s holistic viewpoint. Further research is recommended. There is a need for implementation of compassionate nursing care as a competence area in the nursing education.

In his works such as Andre’s Mother; Lips Together, Teeth Apart; and Love! Valour! Compassion!, playwright Terrence McNally utilizes categorically gay themes such as homophobia and living with HIV and AIDS in a time when little was understood about the illnesses. For these reasons, McNally critics customarily analyze McNally’s plays with a queer theory lens. This work examines those same topics and others, but with a critical disability lens. Inspired by Robert McRuer’s analytical partnership of queer, AIDS, and disabilities studies, this work assesses McNally’s use of various types of languages and finds the figures who are characteristically presented as the contrast to normalcy are in fact normalized and hegemonized.

Self-compassion, typically operationalized as the total score of the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS; Neff, 2003b), has been shown to be related to increased psychological well-being and lower depression in students of the social sciences, users of psychology websites and psychotherapy patients. The current study builds on the existing literature by examining the link between self-compassion and depressive symptomatology in a sample representative of the German general population (n = 2,404). The SCS subscales of self-judgment, isolation, and over-identification, and the “self-coldness”, composite score, which encompass these three negative subscales, consistently differed between subsamples of individuals without any depressive symptoms, with any depressive syndromes, and with major depressive disorder. The contribution of the positive SCS subscales of self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness to the variance in depressive symptomatology was almost negligible. However, when combined to a “self-compassion composite”, the positive SCS subscales significantly moderated the relationship between “self-coldness” and depressive symptoms in the general population. This speaks for self-compassion having the potential to buffer self-coldness related to depression—providing an argument for interventions that foster self-caring, kind, and forgiving attitudes towards oneself.