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The convergence of empathy and digitalization has become a focal point of exploration in society. As traditional modes of interaction evolve in the face of technological advancements, the interplay between human empathy and the digital world unfolds in intricate ways.  Empathy, which is considered a cornerstone of human connection and relationships in the aspect of social work, is now navigating the digital landscape. The fusion of empathy and digitalization as two forces introduces both opportunities and challenges, shaping the dynamics of relationships and societal structures.  The purpose of this study is to investigate the intersection of empathy and digitalization, examining how they interact and mutually influence each other in practical social work. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted with professionals, consisting of four practitioners and two researchers. The findings reveal both posibillities and challenges associated with digitalization in social work and its impact on the empathy of social workers. Respondents perceive favorable prospects for enhancing empathic abilities through digitalization, citing innovation and efficiency as potential benefits. Simultaneously, they underscore the importance of collaboration in implementing digital tools and the need to critically analyze the how, why, and when of digitalization to enhance, rather than diminish, empathic capabilities.

The current study examined the role of coping self-efficacy (belief in one’s ability to effectively manage and cope with stressors), secondary traumatic stress (emotional duress that one may experience when exposed to the traumatic experiences of others), and compassion satisfaction (positive feelings or fulfillment one may experience in helping others) in the influencing the level of burnout (state of prolonged emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion) experienced among a sample of cultural brokers who work with refugees in educational settings. The study aimed to examine how secondary traumatic stress and compassion satisfaction mediated the relationship between coping self-efficacy and burnout. Furthermore, the study investigated the reliability and factor structures of the Professional Quality of Life Scale, Version 5 (ProQOL 5, Stamm, 2010), the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI, Kristensen et al., 2005), and the Coping Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES, Chesney et al., 2006). Data was collected nationwide from 260 cultural brokers who work with refugees in an educational setting through an online survey conducted in Fall 2023. Analyses conducted in this study supported the reliability of the ProQOL 5, CBI, and CSES. Additionally, path models were employed to explore the relationships between coping self-efficacy, secondary traumatic stress, compassion satisfaction, and burnout. A modified model, which removed two problematic items in the ProQOL 5 and one problematic item in the CBI, demonstrated an acceptable model fit through confirmatory factor analysis. These findings supported the use of the CSES, ProQOL 5, and CBI, highlighting their utility in capturing the constructs of burnout, secondary traumatic stress, compassion satisfaction, and perceived coping self-efficacy. Analyses demonstrated statistically significant direct effects between the domains of the ProQOL 5 (secondary traumatic stress and compassion satisfaction) and burnout. However, analyses did not yield significant direct and indirect effects between the CSES domains and burnout, which may suggest that perceived coping self-efficacy is not straightforwardly predictive of burnout levels among cultural brokers. These findings suggest that fostering compassion satisfaction, which in turn may increase job fulfillment, can be a crucial strategy or intervention in addressing or preventing burnout symptoms. Additionally, these findings suggest that understanding the relationship between secondary traumatic stress and burnout may be critical in addressing burnout symptoms and utilizing targeted interventions (e.g., trauma-informed training) to mitigate the effects of burnout among cultural brokers. Implications and future directions are discussed. / Psychological Studies in Education

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Farrell J. Webb / This study examined the relationships between and among the factors of compassion fatigue, burnout, compassion satisfaction and spiritual resiliency in association with the care work of United States Army chaplains who minister to soldiers, families, and Department of the Army (DA) civilians in the military. This investigation breaks new ground in understanding the factors that affect chaplain care work. Data were collected from 408 active duty Army chaplains who responded to and completed the online survey. Information about rank, years of service, battle fatigue/stress and number of deployments was collected. These data along with specific scales were combined into the Chaplain Care Work Model—the tool used in this investigation. Scores from three measurement instruments: Professional Quality of Life Scale R-IV, Spiritual Well-Being Scale, and the Resilience Scale were used to test the hypotheses for this study. Of particular interest, the measurement scales of Spiritual Well-Being and Resiliency were combined to develop a new measurement construct labeled Spiritual Resiliency. The model of Chaplain Care Work was tested using path analysis and structural equation modeling techniques to illustrate the relationships of the predictors (constructed from latent variables—Chaplaincy Status, Deployment Status, and Self Care) to the outcome measure of Care Work (also a latent variable). Overall 85% of the variance in care work can be attributed to the model’s predictors, adding to the value of examining care work among those who provide direct service to others. Findings indicated that spiritual resiliency ebbed and flowed as a function of the different levels of compassion fatigue, burnout, and compassion satisfaction experienced by the chaplains because of their care work. Furthermore, number of deployments and experience (years of chaplain service) had significant relationships with compassion fatigue and burnout. Results from the findings were underpinned by explicit narrative comments provided by chaplains. These comments provided rich material in support of the significant relationships discovered in this study, and offered insights into how care work is both meaningful and necessary for maintaining a healthier chaplaincy.

Past research has revealed that mental health practitioners experience challenging reactions in the course of their professional interactions with traumatized clients in the clinical work setting. The demands of caring, without commensurate replenishment, deplete the practitioners' empathy and produces forms of apathy and indifference towards the suffering of others, known as compassion fatigue. This quantitative, exploratory, cross sectional study examined the predictive relationships between compassion fatigue and work attitudes in primary care physicians located in West Africa. The etiological model of compassion fatigue and constructivist self-development theory (CSDT) formed the conceptual framework for examining clinician responses to trauma-related experiences in the clinical work environment. The main research question in this study was: How well does the level of compassion fatigue in practitioners predict their work attitudes in the clinical work setting? Survey data collected from 67 primary care physicians were analyzed using a linear regression modeling procedure. Results showed that practitioners' compassion fatigue was a statistically significant predictor of their work attitudes, F(1,65) = 7.78, p < .05, R-² = .107. Results also confirmed that compassion satisfaction moderated the effect of compassion fatigue in practitioners. The data revealed that higher levels of compassion satisfaction was related to more positive levels of attitudes toward work. This study provided empirical information regarding the predictive relationships between compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and work attitudes. The results can be used to promote social change by providing health-care leaders in developing countries information that supports the need for activities, services, and support programs that enhance compassion satisfaction in physicians, to improve work attitudes. Such programs would promote further social change by improving the physicians' well-being, and mitigating the effects of compassion fatigue.

Compassion fatigue (CF), also known as secondary traumatic stress (STS), impacts critical care nurses (CCN) through exposure to pain, suffering, and loss of those for whom they provide care and results in a reduction of compassion satisfaction (CS). High incidence of CF and turnover (TO) rates at the project site were identified among CCNs. The institution's CCN TO rate was at 81% in comparison to peers in other areas at 29%–35%. The practice-focused question asked whether leadership education on CF might ameliorate CF at the project site. The purpose of the Doctor of Nursing Practice project was to reduce the incidence of CF and TO among CCN through leadership education. Watson's theory of human caring was used as a framework. Two hundred twenty-nine CCNs completed the Professional Quality of Life survey that measures CS, STS, and burnout (BO). Comparison of 28 nursing leaders' pretest scores to posttest scores indicated a statistically significant improvement (z = -4.625, p < .001) and knowledge acquisition. BO and CF taken together explained 86% (adjusted R2 = .86) of the variance in CS (F [2, 227] = 691.33, p < .001). Identifying the nursing units with the highest CF scores and providing CF education to the leadership provides a path to reduce turnover and provide needed support to CCNs, a positive social change.

Past research has revealed that mental health practitioners experience challenging reactions in the course of their professional interactions with traumatized clients in the clinical work setting. The demands of caring, without commensurate replenishment, deplete the practitioners' empathy and produces forms of apathy and indifference towards the suffering of others, known as compassion fatigue. This quantitative, exploratory, cross sectional study examined the predictive relationships between compassion fatigue and work attitudes in primary care physicians located in West Africa. The etiological model of compassion fatigue and constructivist self-development theory (CSDT) formed the conceptual framework for examining clinician responses to trauma-related experiences in the clinical work environment. The main research question in this study was: How well does the level of compassion fatigue in practitioners predict their work attitudes in the clinical work setting? Survey data collected from 67 primary care physicians were analyzed using a linear regression modeling procedure. Results showed that practitioners' compassion fatigue was a statistically significant predictor of their work attitudes, F(1,65) = 7.78, p < .05, R² = .107. Results also confirmed that compassion satisfaction moderated the effect of compassion fatigue in practitioners. The data revealed that higher levels of compassion satisfaction was related to more positive levels of attitudes toward work. This study provided empirical information regarding the predictive relationships between compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and work attitudes. The results can be used to promote social change by providing health-care leaders in developing countries information that supports the need for activities, services, and support programs that enhance compassion satisfaction in physicians, to improve work attitudes. Such programs would promote further social change by improving the physicians' well-being, and mitigating the effects of compassion fatigue.

Bakgrund: Sjuksköterskor är genom sitt yrke utsatta för risken att drabbas av empatitrötthet, vilket innebär avsaknad av empatiskt engagemang. Den empatiska förmågan ses som en grundläggande del av omvårdnaden, men sjuksköterskor som regelbundet utsätts för situationer där det krävs ett högt empatiskt engagemang kan tillslut utveckla empatitrötthet. Det kan medföra svårigheter, som påverkar sjuksköterskans välbefinnande och förmåga att utföra arbete, och på sikt kan empatitrötthet leda till konsekvenser både för patienten, arbetsplatsen och organisationen i stort.  Syfte: Syftet var att sammanställa faktorer som har visat sig ha en koppling till empatitrötthet hos sjuksköterskor och således skulle kunna minska eller öka risken för utveckling av empatitrötthet.  Metod: En litteraturstudie baserad på 10 vetenskapliga artiklar med kvantitativ ansats, samtliga studier utförda med mätinstrumentet ProQOL 5. Artikelsökning har genomförts i databaserna CINAHL och PubMed. Studierna har genomgått kvalitetsgranskning och evidensgradering. Resultatet har analyserats genom deskriptiv analys. Resultat: Två huvudteman har presenterats i resultatet: Demografiska faktorer samt arbetsplatsrelaterade faktorer, varav fem demografiska faktorer och tre arbetsplatsrelaterade faktorer. I sex av studierna framgick det att sjuksköterskans utbildningsnivå kan påverka utvecklingen av såväl empatisk tillfredsställelse som empatitrötthet. I fem av studierna framgick det att stöd från chef och kollegor är en annan påverkande faktor.  Konklusion: Sjuksköterskor som känner stöd från sin chef och sina kollegor samt sjuksköterskor som vidareutbildar sig och/eller får utbildning på arbetsplatsen löper mindre risk att drabbas av empatitrötthet. Nyckelord: Empati, Empatisk tillfredsställelse, Empatitrötthet, Omvårdnad, Professionell livskvalitet, Sjuksköterska / Background: Through their profession, nurses are exposed to the risk of suffering from compassion fatigue, which means a lack of empathic commitment. The empathic ability is seen as a fundamental part of nursing, but nurses who are regularly exposed to situations where a high level of empathic commitment is required can eventually develop compassion fatigue. It can lead to difficulties which affect the nurse's well-being and ability to perform work-related tasks, and in the long run, compassion fatigue can lead to consequences for the patient, the workplace and the organization. Aim: The aim was to compile factors that have been shown to be linked to compassion fatigue in nurses and thus could reduce or increase the risk of developing compassion fatigue. Method: A literature review based on 10 scientific articles with a quantitative approach, all studies performed with the measuring instrument ProQOL 5. Article searches have been performed in the databases CINAHL and PubMed. The studies have undergone quality review and evidence grading. The result has been analyzed by descriptive analysis. Results: Two main themes have been presented in the results: demographic factors and workplace-related factors, of which five demographic factors and three workplace-related factors. In six of the studies, it was shown that the nurse's educational level can affect the development of both compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue. Five of the studies showed that support from managers and colleagues is another influencing factor. Conclusion: Nurses who feel supported by their manager and colleagues, as well as nurses who further their education and / or receive training in the workplace, are less likely to suffer from compassion fatigue. Keywords: Compassion fatigue, Compassion satisfaction, Empathy, Nurse, Nursing, Professional quality of life

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