Scope of the Problem
One research study on compassion fatigue and burnout found that “burnout has been more closely associated with systemic stressors in the work environment (Malachi, 2003), and compassion fatigue has been associated with the demands of interacting with traumatized clients (Figley, 1995) and with the number of hours spent providing them with therapeutic services” (Kassam-Adams, 1999; Flannelly et al., 2005). Social workers that work with traumatized clients and spend more hours working with clients is a key factor that contributes to compassion fatigue compared to work-settings and other factors that contribute to burnout. “However, certain personal resources were even stronger predictors of burnout. Compassion satisfaction,
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Research suggests that there are contributing factors that may increase the possibility that certain people may be at a higher risk for compassion fatigue because of personal trauma, or professionals who have poor self-care practices, and people with lack of job satisfaction. In addition, it is important to know the difference between burnout and compassion fatigue because they share similar symptoms and often overlap. “Some research indicates that job burnout and compassion fatigue (i.e., secondary trauma) are separate contributors to psychological distress. Burnout is not limited to those who work with the traumatized and tends to occur over a prolonged period of time” (Harr & Moore, 2011, …show more content…
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