This study investigates the “the cost of caring” (Figley, 1995) for educators who teach and work with traumatized children; that is children who live in challenging social environments with ongoing stressors, such as family physical abuse, sexual assault, neglect, community violence, bereavement and loss issues, parental mental health and substance abuse, and homelessness. This study examines the theoretical framework of Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS). The phenomenon of STS has been investigated in depth for professionals, such as social workers, counselors/therapists, hotline/crisis workers, law enforcement officers, nurses, emergency medical technicians/paramedics, firefighters, and disaster relief workers (Bride et al, 2007). This study explores how teachers address the emotional stressors of teaching traumatized children, the impact of their work on them both personally and professionally, if teachers are able to incorporate self-care strategies, and explores the applicability of STS to elementary educators

The emergency department is a stressful environment. Emergency department registered nurses (ED RNs) are at an increased risk of development of negative and unhealthy psychological conditions due to their frequent exposure to stress and traumatic events. These conditions include post-traumatic stress disorder, compassion fatigue, and burnout syndrome, which are already known to be common in the emergency department registered nurse population. It is important to understand the factors that influence the development of these psychological conditions in order to provide better education to nurses regarding prevention of the development of these psychological conditions. This literature review aimed to identify articles that examined the factors associated with post-traumatic stress disorder, compassion fatigue, and burnout syndrome. Databases searched included but were not limited to CINAHL, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO. The determinants discussed in this paper include personality traits, social support, coping style, workplace violence, work environment, internal perceptions held by the nurse, and external perceptions held by the patient. Limited research exists regarding the factors influencing the development of compassion fatigue in the ED RN.

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Bakgrund: Empatitrötthet uppstår när sjuksköterskor utsätts för utmaningar i vården som påverkar deras arbetsmiljö. Det skapar ett bristande utrymme för sjuksköterskor att ventilera sina känslor kring patientsituationer. Sjuksköterskor påverkas av överbelastning av olika situationer där empati hade en stor påverkan. Syfte: Syftet är att undersöka sjuksköterskors uppfattning av empatitrötthet Metod: Studien har genomförts som en kvalitativ intervjustudie med semistrukturerade intervjuer med 10 legitimerade sjuksköterskor. Resultat: Resultatet delades in i 2 huvudkategorier För trött för att bedriva omvårdnaden och Avsaknad av hanteringsstrategier att förebygga utmattning som sedan delades in i 4 underkategorier. I resultatet framkom det att sjuksköterskor uppgav att den höga belastningen, bristande resurser och utmattning påverkade omvårdnaden patienterna fick. Konklusion: Den kvalitativa studien visar att begreppet empatitrötthet hos sjuksköterskor är något som är aktuellt inom slutenvården då den höga arbetsbelastningen och dess stressfaktorer påverkar sjuksköterskors arbete, eftersträvar sjuksköterskor en drastisk förändring. / Background: Compassion fatigue occurs when nurses are exposed to challenges in care that affect their work environment. It creates a lack of space for nurses to vent their feelings about patient situations. Nurses are affected by overload of different situations where empathy had a big impact. Aim: The aim is to examine nurses’ perception of compassion fatigue Method: The study has been conducted as a qualitative interview study with semi-structured interviews with 10 registered nurses. Findings: The result was divided into 2 main categories Too tired to carry out nursing and Lack of coping strategies to prevent exhaustion which were then divided into 4 subcategories. In the results, it emerged that nurses stated that the high workload, lack of resources and exhaustion affected the care the patients received. Conclusion: The qualitative study shows that the concept of compassion fatigue in nurses is something that is relevant in inpatient care, as the high workload and its stress factors affect nurses’ work, nurses strive for a drastic change.

Abstract Authors: Veronica Axeborg & Malin Devida Carlsson Title: Indirect strain and compassion fatigue- a qualitative study of working conditions in social work Supervisor: Roddy Nilsson Assessor: Rickard Ulmestig   High levels of sick leave can often be detected in social work, especially within the group of social workers that have contact and relationship building professions. Direct collaboration with clients requires that the social worker uses him or herself as a tool. On top of a heavy workload with complex cases that are time consuming and the pressure of getting tasks ready on time, these social workers are also exposed to an indirect workload when they listen to the suffering and pain of their clients’ problems. Compassion fatigue is a phenomenon and condition that can occur when a person repeatedly hears about difficulties without experiencing it for themselves.  The purpose of this study was to investigate social workers views and experiences with indirect strain and compassion fatigue and also how these phenomena are made aware of and handled or not handled in the workplace. This study consists of six semi-structured interviews with social workers that have a contact and relationship building profession. The results of the interviews are presented through prominent themes and analysed with Antonovskys theory of Sense of coherence.  Results showed that several of the respondents has experiences of indirect strain, sometimes so invisible they don´t notice or reflect over it themselves. Only one respondent experience compassion fatigue due to contact with clients whereas the others are aware of the existence of the phenomenon but do not suffer from it. Both indirect strain and compassion fatigue arises at times in workplaces but nothing structural is organised to prevent or handle the phenomena. Collegial support has proven to be the chosen way of dealing with it. A prominent conclusion of this study is that the direct workload and time pressure is what’s burdening in the social worker´s profession and that the line between the indirect and direct strain sometimes is difficult to draw. They often go into each other’s fields or become each other’s consequences.

Burnout is a construct first proposed by Freudenberger to describe a condition that develops in people who work with people such as teachers, nurses and first responders (Shan, 2005). Professionals who are burned out demonstrate a lack of concern for the people they service and often perform poorly on the job. In recent years, the construct of Burnout has been largely replaced by the construct of Compassion Fatigue. Interestingly, mental health professionals who work with children as their predominant client base have not been extensively studied, although these professionals arguably could be experiencing some of the highest levels of Compassion Fatigue (Eastwood, 2008). Research shows that Burnout and Compassion Fatigue impact the work that an individual performs, but the impact of these on the use of particular therapeutic practices as an area is less studied. The present study sought to determine if there is a relationship between Burnout, Compassion Fatigue, and the use of evidence-based practices in mental health professionals. Using research by Craig and Sprang (2010) as the starting point, this study also investigated whether mental health professionals who work with children experience more or less Burnout and Compassion Fatigue than those who work with adults. Mental health professionals from a variety of mental health facilities in the Philadelphia region served as subjects in this study. Participants were given the Trauma Practices Questionnaire (TPQ), a 22-item treatment practices utilization scale, the Professional Quality of Life Scale-V (PRoQOL-V), a 30-item scale that required respondents to assess their thoughts and feelings in relation to their work, and a questionnaire formulated by this investigator that included demographic information, background information, as well a question that focused on the age of the mental health professional's client base and a question that focused on years of professional experience. The results showed that the mental health professionals who worked with adults were older, more typically white, had higher levels of education and had undergraduate majors that were in psychology or a psychology-related area (e.g., social work) than mental health professionals who worked with children. Burnout and Compassion Fatigue correlated negatively with all practices, evidence based and non-evidence based. Males used more evidence-based and total practices than females. Females had a higher level of Compassion Satisfaction but also a higher level of Burnout. The results showed that the mental health professionals who worked with children had higher levels of Compassion Satisfaction, but also higher levels of Burnout. The data show that the group that works with children used less cognitive and behavioral approaches. The broader implications of the results are discussed in the conclusion. / Educational Psychology

Bakgrund: I sjuksköterskans roll ingår ett etiskt- och personcentrerat förhållningsätt där den empatiska förmågan är betydelsefull. Empatitrötthet är ett tillstånd som innebär att empatin brister till följd av exponering för lidande och kan beskrivas som priset för att man bryr sig. Symtomen av empatitrötthet kan vara såväl psykiska som fysiska och komma att påverka individers välmående, privat- och arbetsliv. Hjälpande yrken som involverar ett stort empatiskt engagemang löper en större risk för att utveckla empatitrötthet, däribland sjuksköterskor. Syfte: ​​Syftet med studien var att beskriva sjuksköterskors upplevelse av empatitrötthet.​ Metod: En allmän litteraturöversikt har genomförts baserat på tio kvalitativa artiklar som inhämtats från databaserna PubMed, Cinahl Complete samt Ovid Emcare. Materialet har analyserats i fyra steg, se dataanalys. Resultat: Tre huvudteman identifierades med totalt åtta underteman. En inblick i sjuksköterskors upplevelse av bakomliggande orsaker: Den empatiska förmågan, Vårdrelationen och Arbetsförhållanden. Empatitrötthetens avtryck: Konsekvenser för sjuksköterskans privata jag och Konsekvenser för sjuksköterskans professionella jag. Sjuksköterskors upplevelse av att ta sig igenom empatitrötthet: Stöd, Hantering och Egenvård. Slutsats: Den empatiska förmågan är en förutsättning för att utveckla empatitrötthet hos sjuksköterskor som exponeras för lidande under bristande arbetsförhållanden. Tillståndet leder till att empatin brister, vilket resulterar i en emotionell avtrubbning. Empatitrötthet kan ha negativa effekter på både arbetslivet och privatlivet, samtidigt som stöd från kollegor och familj kan vara betydelsefullt. / Background: Nursing involves an ethical and patient-centred care, where empathy is significant. Compassion fatigue is a condition that involves a lack of empathy due to exposure to suffering and can be described as the cost of caring. Symptoms of compassion fatigue can be both psychological and physical and may affect individuals´ well-being, personal as well as professional lives. Helping professions that involve a high level of emphatic engagement are at a greater risk of developing compassion fatigue, including nurses. Purpose: The aim of the study was to describe nurses' experience of compassion fatigue. Method: A literature review was conducted based on ten qualitative original articles retrieved from the Pubmed, Cinahl Complete and Ovid Emcare databases. The material was analysed in four stages, see data analyses. Results: Three main themes were identified, with a total of eight associated subthemes. Insight into nurses' experiences of underlying causes: The empathic ability, Care relationship and Working conditions. The Impact of Compassion Fatigue: Consequences for the nurses’ personal self and Consequences for the nurses’ professional self. Nurses' experience of navigating through compassion fatigue: Support, Coping, and Self-care. Conclusion: The ability to empathize is a prerequisite for developing compassion fatigue among nurses who are exposed to suffering, combined with poor working conditions. Compassion fatigue leads to a lack of empathy, resolution an emotional numbness. Compassion fatigue can have negative effects on both work and personal life, while support from colleagues and family can be meaningful.