Compassion Fatigue In Emergency Nursing

Emergency nurses treat patients that are in a state of an acute illness or trauma. They deal with many critical situations and have to deal with doctors, family members and other healthcare workers (Johnson & Johnson, 2014). The environment of an Emergency Department is stressful and nurses often observe many tragedies, which can lead them to experience symptoms of compassion fatigue (CF) (Duffy, Avalos, & Dowling, 2015). CF has been called the cost of caring and is a side effect of helping others who have experienced some form of trauma (Figley, 1995; Boyle, 2015; Yoder, 2010). The symptoms attributed to CF are often physical as in headaches, stomach upset, insomnia and chronic fatigue; or emotional as in apathy, cynicism, irritation,

Key search terms included compassion fatigue, interventions for compassion fatigue, compassion fatigue in nurses, compassion fatigue in emergency room nurses, and measurement of compassion fatigue. Search filters used were English language, within the past 10 years, and full text, where applicable. The search was then open to all years, so as to gather additional, generalized data to define compassion fatigue and its interventions. A Google search using the term compassion fatigue and Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) was also completed for additional resources. Further information regarding limitations within specific searches is included in Table

What was selected for inclusion was based on the PICO question; the rational for inclusion was findings on defining CF, how does it effect nurses, how does it effect emergency nurses in particular, interventions for CF, types of interventions including workshops and educational programs, and measurement tools for CF. Research published within the past 5 years was taken first, and then expanded to include older over the past 20 years, as well as articles that have a basis in oncology, since these articles mention interventions. The majority level of evidence is Level IV (a well designed case-control and cohort studies) and VII (from a single descriptive or qualitative study), since most studies are qualitative in nature. One study was both qualitative and quantitative and even though it was in relationship of burnout, it was included due to the nature of the study and the interventional workshop that was used. Further information regarding evidence inclusion, see Table