The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors of social worker and allied professional’s professional quality of life, particularly the impact of the professional’s childhood psychological abuse on compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction scores. Variables such as perceived resilience, social support, childhood psychological abuse, evidence-based practice training, years of experience, percentage of clients with trauma narratives, and case-load number are explored both conceptually and as risk or protective factors to social worker and allied professional’s compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction. A conceptual model is provided to visually show the direction of the proposed research. The sample to be used in this research consists of two-hundred-eighteen social worker and allied professionals in the United States who predominantly have a master’s degree or higher. A simple correlation analysis will be used to see any direct correlations between variables used in this study: childhood psychological abuse and its three components, compassion satisfaction, burnout, compassion fatigue, perceived resilience, social support and its three components, evidence-based training, education level, caseload, percentage of client trauma, and years of experience in the field. Multiple regression analysis will also be utilized in this research study to identify any relationship between the aforementioned variables and compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue. In focusing on the research question for this study, an examination of the simple correlational matrix found, for this sample of MSW social workers and allied professionals, no significant correlation between childhood psychological abuse and compassion fatigue or compassion satisfaction. Additionally, in running two separate regression models, one for predicting compassion fatigue and one for predicting compassion satisfaction, childhood psychological abuse was not a significant predictor for this sample’s study. Findings from this study disagree with the only study that attempts to measure childhood psychological abuse of the social worker and their reaction to secondary traumatic stress (Nelson-Gardell & Harris, 2004). There are two main differences between the two study samples: education, training level, and work experience, perhaps suggesting that social workers who are master’s level educated or higher are better protected from compassion fatigue related symptomology, or that the Nelson-Gardell & Harris study’s predominantly child welfare worker sample is encountering client trauma in a way that is unique from this study’s sample. Implications from this study’s findings are explored suggesting further research into the effects of education and evidence-based training as a protective factor from the effects of childhood psychological abuse on compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction.

Compassion fatigue is a secondary stress reaction that results from providing care to those undergoing traumatic life events. Frequent exposure to dying patients with complex medical concerns has been identified as a contributing factor to compassion fatigue and resultant turnover among hospice nurses. The purpose of this project was to assess whether the provision of education to hospice nurses regarding compassion fatigue resulted in a demonstrable improvement in their levels of compassion fatigue. Watson's theory of human caring and Roy's adaptation model provided the theoretical foundation for this project. The practice-focused question for this project asked whether a reduction in compassion fatigue among hospice nurses would result after providing them with educational material focused on compassion fatigue. Twenty-three hospice nurse participants were administered Stamm's Professional Quality of Life Scale to measure their compassion fatigue levels before and after being presented with an educational booklet. Scores for this project were compared using a before-and-after quality improvement design and percent difference to measure the impact of the educational offering. Results demonstrated an 8.6% reduction in compassion fatigue among the hospice nurse participants, indicating that educational interventions support a positive effect in reducing compassion fatigue. Positive social change might result from this project by improving nurses' awareness of the need for self-care that contributes to resiliency and prevention of compassion fatigue.

This dissertation was an exploratory research study using a cross-sectional survey design to examine the impact of ecological, environmental, psychological, and financial hardship on counselors of the U.S. Gulf Region. Since 2005, the U.S. Gulf Region, unlike any other region of the United States, has faced multiple disasters including Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Ike and Gustav (Walsh, 2010), the Great Recession (Conant, 2010), and the largest ecological disaster in the history of the United States, the BP Oil Spill (Gray, 2010). The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes and characteristics of counselors in one U.S. Gulf State, specifically Mississippi, to obtain valuable information about compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction of counselors as measured by the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) (Stamm, 2009). The researcher used a demographic survey and the ProQOL (Stamm) for analyses. The researcher collected the ProQOL (Stamm) sub-scale scores of 282 Mississippi counselors who attended the 60th Annual Mississippi Counseling Conference. The counselors recorded high compassion satisfaction scores, low burnout scores and low secondary traumatic stress scores. Additionally, the researcher used one-way MANOVAs to examine the main effects of counselor characteristics such as educational level, gender, geographic location, self-care methods, and years of experience on the ProQOL (Stamm) sub-scale means of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. The researcher found two statistically significant differences in gender and years of experience. Male participants’ burnout and secondary traumatic stress scores were significantly less than female participants’ burnout and secondary traumatic stress scores. Participants with 1-10 years of experience recorded statistically significant higher burnout scores and lower compassion satisfaction scores than participants with less than one year of experience, 10-20 years of experience, and more than 20 years of experience. In contrast to assumptions related to the ecological, environmental, psychological, and financial hardship present in this region, high levels of satisfaction was found in counselors who serve this region. The researcher found that despite the impact of these multiple traumatic events these counselors were satisfied with their work.

A growing literature documents the inherently stressful nature of working with persons who are suffering or traumatized, and the potential for the development of stress disorders among social workers and other helpers. Previous studies of compassion fatigue and burnout have provided important information about professional and workplace variables that might influence risk, but little attention has been given to studying intrapersonal skills/abilities that might reduce risk and/or increase resilience and work satisfaction among helping professionals. This exploratory study asked whether levels of mindfulness, empathy, and emotional separation would influence professional quality of life, including compassion fatigue, burnout, and compassion satisfaction. Surveys consisting of demographic questions and four established scales measuring professional quality of life, mindfulness, empathy, and emotional separation were mailed to a random sample of 400 licensed clinical social workers in Kentucky. Data were collected between Mar. 8, 2008, and May 29, 2008, and included 171 usable surveys, a 42% response rate. Data were analyzed using ordinary least squares multiple regression, analysis of variance tests, and Sobel tests of mediation. Findings show significant, direct associations of higher mindfulness and emotional separation scores with higher compassion satisfaction scores and lower burnout scores. Higher emotional separation was also directly and significantly associated with lower compassion fatigue, and mediation tests suggested an indirect negative relationship between mindfulness and compassion fatigue as well. The personal distress empathy subscale had a significant, direct, negative association with compassion satisfaction, while empathic concern had a significant, direct, positive association. In addition, tests for mediation suggested significant indirect effects of personal distress on all three dependent variables. Results suggest that an increased emphasis on the intentional management of internal emotional states may be as important for clinicians as it is for clients, and that professional training programs should consider how best to teach such skills.

Bakgrund: Sjuksköterskan ansvarar för omvårdnaden av patienter och för att de ska kunna ge en god vård är det viktigt att ha ett empatiskt förhållningsätt. En möjlig negativ konsekvens av att vårda svårt sjuka och lidande patienter är compassion fatigue som påverkar sjuksköterskans välbefinnande och förmåga att ge patienten en god och säker omvårdnad. Forskning visar att individer inom sjuksköterskeyrket löper en högre risk än andra yrkeskategorier att drabbas av compassion fatigue. Definitionen av compassion fatigue och hur det påverkar sjuksköterskan är inte helt klarlagd då begreppet är relativt nytt. Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva compassion fatigue ur ett sjuksköterskeperspektiv samt beskriva vilka faktorer som orsakar uppkomsten. Metod: Resultatet i denna litteraturstudie är baserad på 12 vetenskapliga artiklar som är granskade enligt Fribergs granskningsmodell.  Resultat: Artiklarna visade att ålder, kön, erfarenhet som sjuksköterska, utbildningsnivå och arbetstider är faktorer som påverkar uppkomsten till compassion fatigue. De visar även att sjuksköterskan upplever att kunskapsbristen är en orsak till compassion fatigue, samt att det egna känslolivet, omvårdnaden av patienter och arbetsmiljön påverkas. Diskussion: Då det råder kunskapsbrist bland sjuksköterskor om ämnet och att detta upplevs som en orsak till compassion fatigue, bör sjuksköterskor redan under grundutbildningen undervisas om att sjuksköterskeyrket kan leda till personlig ohälsa. Många sjuksköterskor lämnar yrket på grund av compassion fatigue. Detta leder till en försämrad hållbar utveckling genom ökade kostnader, sämre arbetsmiljöer och försämrad patientsäkerhet.

Purpose: To conduct an educational intervention to reduce compassion fatigue among Arizona transplant nurses. Background: Burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and loss of compassion satisfaction raise the risk of compassion fatigue. Transplant nurses support the patient continuum of life and death, and often experience emotional and physical exhaustion and grief when dealing with poor outcomes or patient loss. When patients disregard the value of their new organ or are non-compliant with medications, nurses may feel conflicted. There is a paucity of research as to how those situations are experienced among transplant nurses. Method: Two workshops were conducted to reduce the risk of compassion fatigue among transplant nurses (n=7) through the delivery of educational and skills training. Education included symptoms, perceptions, triggers and outcomes of compassion fatigue. Skills to reduce compassion fatigue were outlined, such as self-reflection, mindfulness, healthy boundaries, and reaching out. Discussion content was analyzed for commonalities. Findings: Participants reported an overall high level of personal satisfaction within their specialty, relating this to the improved quality of life for patients who otherwise faced terminal illness or imminent death. Burnout and secondary traumatic stress experiences were deemed as inherent within this nursing practice. Symptoms of headaches, nausea, joint pain, and extreme fatigue were described as occurring in times of increased stress. Triggers reported for these symptoms included poor teamwork, lack of management support, and high nurse-to-patient care ratios. Ethical and moral dilemmas were unanimously reported as causing the highest levels of stress and professional dissatisfaction. Implications: Burnout among transplant nurses is perceived as inherent to this specialty due to associated challenges with a life and death continuum of patient care. Participants asserted that the nurse-to-patient relationship remains rewarding, which helps to prevent the onset of compassion fatigue. Participants conveyed that the term compassion fatigue is viewed as negative and does not accurately represent compassion levels when feeling fatigued from providing patient care.

Secondary exposure to trauma has been found to be related to increased burnout and secondary traumatic stress among professionals who work with clients who have experienced trauma (Bride, 2007; Brady, 2008; Peltzer, Matseke, & Louw, 2014; Shoji et al., 2015). Interpersonal factors such as self-efficacy and empathy may support those who experience secondary exposure to trauma by reducing burnout and secondary traumatic stress, and increasing compassion satisfaction (Shakespeare-Finch, Rees, & Armstrong, 2015; Wagaman, Geiger, Shockley, & Segal, 2015). School counselors have not been included in previous studies related to secondary exposure to trauma; however, their professional role in providing support to students in schools places them in direct contact with children and adolescents who have experienced traumatic events. This study investigated the relationships among secondary exposure to trauma, self-efficacy, empathy, and professional quality of life (i.e. burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction) for school counselors. A correlation analysis indicated that self-efficacy and empathy were both significantly correlated with burnout and compassion satisfaction. Self-efficacy and secondary exposure to trauma were both significantly correlated with secondary traumatic stress. Hierarchical linear regression analyses revealed that self-efficacy and empathy were predictors of burnout and compassion satisfaction and self-efficacy and secondary exposure to trauma were predictors of secondary traumatic stress. Implications and recommendations for professional school counselors and school counselor educators are provided.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / This study explored Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) among lay trauma counsellors in Cape Town, South Africa, with a secondary focus on the implications for task shifting. The study supplemented a broader project, which sought to determine correlates between age, gender, and the constructs of ProQOL, using a triangulation design to combine nomothetic and idiographic methods. The current study acted to supplement the primary study with qualitative data, but can be treated as a stand-alone qualitative study.

Compassion fatigue (CF) is defined as a sudden onset of the inability to experience feelings or compassion for others that is triggered by a nurse's inability to separate his/her feelings of stress and anxiety associated with caring for patients who have suffered from a traumatic event. The practice problem addressed in this doctoral project was the lack of knowledge of emergency department nurses (EDNs) related to CF in the work setting, resulting in a negative impact on a nurse's ability to provide quality care to patients. The purpose of the project was to present an educational program on how to recognize, prevent, and manage CF. Framed within Stamm's theoretical model of compassion satisfaction and CF, the project was guided by the steps within the Walden University Manual for Staff Education Project and the practice question addressed whether the literature would support an evidence-based educational program on CF for EDNs. The evaluation/validation for the project included an evaluation of the curriculum by the three content experts (in which learning objectives were deemed met), content validation of the pre-/post-test items by the content experts (all test items were deemed relevant to the learning objectives, with the validity index scale analysis at 1.00), and finally, a paired t test to determine knowledge gained from pre- to post-test that resulted in a significant (p < 0.0001) improvement in knowledge. A potential positive social change resulting from the project is a healthy work environment where EDNs understand and reduce their risks for CF, which may ultimately promote optimal patient care and improved health outcomes.

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