Compassion Fatigue in ER Nurses

Compassion Fatigue in ER Nurses
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Abstract
For this project, the identified problem is compassion fatigue and burnout amongst emergency nurses. Incidences of compassion fatigue (CF) amongst emergency nurses have increased very much over the past few years (Li et al., 2014). This particular problem is observed in the emergency department of hospitals. Compassion fatigue has a negative and adverse impact on nurse work environments and patient outcomes. Yoder (2010) reported that compassion fatigue (CF) impacts negatively on nurses, and therefore, interventions to deal with CF should be addressed so as to improve patient outcome and avoid burnout among nurses. The proposed solution entails providing nursing education with aim of improving knowledge on recognizing the symptoms of CF early on as this would encourage early treatment to avoid negative health outcomes on nursing staffs. Melvin (2012) pointed out that intervention of professional CF is critical for nurses to continue caring for patients. This project is expected to cost $20,000, which would cater for the provision of training and education. To obtain support from the employees and senior management of the hospital, it would be important to inform them of the benefits of the proposed solution as well as involving and consulting them during the implementation process so that they feel a sense of ownership to the project. Evaluating the effectiveness of the project will involve using structured, closed-ended questionnaires which would be distributed to the participants. To disseminate the findings, various strategies would be used such as websites; publication in nursing journals such as JAMA and New England Journal of Medicine; media coverage in newspapers, radio, and television; and well as holding and attending conferences to discuss the findings.
Keywords: compassion fatigue, burnout, education program, patient satisfaction
Compassion Fatigue in ER Nurses
1.0 Problem Description
The number of patients in emergency departments is increasing while there is also increased demand on nurses to improve their service in spite of support resources being constrained (Allender, Rector & Warner, 2013). As such, the pressure to improve performance and patient satisfaction has put a strain on nurses as they are more likely to suffer compassion fatigue (CF) and burnout while reporting low levels of patient satisfaction (Hunsaker et al., 2015). Given the need to also recruit and retain the most competent staff, nurse managers also face the challenge of making sure that there is quality health care provision (Lombardo & Eyre, 2011). Cases of compassion fatigue (CF) among emergency nurses have increased tremendously over the past few years (Li et al., 2014). Compassion fatigue includes mental, emotional, spiritual as well as physical effects experienced due to constant exposure to patients going through pain, sufferings and death (Adriaenssens et al., 2011).
The setting in which the identified problem – compassion fatigue among emergency nurses – is observed is the emergency department of hospitals. It is within emergency departments that nurses care for patients with emergency conditions and get to expe...