5 Ways to Reduce Nurse Compassion Fatigue

Compassion fatigue occurs when repeated exposure to stressful, traumatic, or saddening experiences or environments causes a decline in empathic abilities. As a nurse, you provide care with empathy and sensitivity, and compassion fatigue can leave you feeling disconnected from the compassion you often feel. Signs of nurse compassion fatigue – increased anger or agitation, low self-esteem, lack of interest in activities or difficulty sleeping – impact not only patient care and your skilled life, but in addition your personal life. 2019 study on compassion fatigue in nursing found that it affects nurses no matter specialization, seniority or age. On the opposite hand, the outcomes also showed that supportive leadership, symptom awareness, and coping strategies were effective in stopping or reducing the disease. Your role plays an important role in providing high-quality patient care, so by recognizing compassion fatigue and implementing strategies, you’ll be able to mitigate its effects.

Self-regulation

Because nurses are on the front lines of healthcare, they will need to have stressful encounters with patients, families and even co-workers. Their role requires them to keep up composure in difficult situations, even when their very own well-being is in danger. Self-regulation refers to regulating and relaxing the body to keep up control when responding to a stressful situation. Mindfulness techniques similar to respiratory exercises could also be helpful. A study on mindfulness found that nurses using these techniques demonstrated: improving their emotional well-being. These methods can allow you to develop self-compassion and reduce negative reactions or thoughts that may result in compassion fatigue. Trish Richardson, MSN, BSBA, RN, NE-BC, CMSRN, former director of aftercare solutions at Relias, discussed how self-regulation has helped her throughout her profession. “I make a habit of stopping at a patient’s door and clearing my mind before entering, reminding myself that he needs my full attention,” she said. “Our unit has been implemented zip code reportsenabling employees to be cared for, given attention, and able to “fill their cups.” Zip code summarization is a practice that offers healthcare professionals time to process emotions and reflect with colleagues after a traumatic situation. Richardson added that because this method focused on the well-being of themselves and their co-workers, they were higher equipped to look after others throughout the remainder of their shifts.

Taking care of your health: self-care

Nurses spend a number of time tirelessly caring for patients, which might often make them overlook their very own physical and emotional health. Self-care is the act of maintaining physical and mental health, partially through activities similar to taking a walk with a friend, getting a massage, attending a yoga class, or eating a nutritious meal. Trish Richardson, RN However, self-care doesn’t must be limited to rest activities. Setting boundaries for yourself will also be an act of self-care, she says NO for instance, to are available in on a day without work or to tackle more responsibilities. By adopting these practices, you take steps to enhance your individual physical and mental health. “Compassion fatigue can quickly set in after constant exposure to endless suffering and death, with no opportunity to take stock or decompress,” Richardson said. “Self-care is an essential part of finding and embracing emotional balance and maintaining health in the midst of chaos.” Richardson also added that this act of self-centeredness promotes stability and is a possibility to revive balance to at least one’s health – physical and emotional. Self-care “empowers you as a caregiver and allows you to be at your best while caring for patients,” said Nurses Who implement self-care practices According to at least one study, they might also discover that they’ve more autonomy, higher self-esteem and feel stronger. Results like these show how effective self-care is and that it will possibly be a tool to cut back the consequences of compassion fatigue.

Connection

The high emotional demands that nurses often experience can come at a value. That’s why reference to friends, family and colleagues is crucial within the fight against conditions similar to burnout, moral injury and compassion fatigue. Solid support systems provide protected spaces during which to seek out emotional relief. The strength and closeness of those relationships can have a positive impact in your overall well-being, improving each your mental and physical health. Study on nurses’ social support found that nurses who had strong and effective relationships with co-workers had higher mental health. This study also suggests that if more nurses got the chance to strengthen their relationships with colleagues, including nurse managers, there may very well be a change within the variety of nurses experiencing burnout or compassion fatigue.

“Something so simple as a loved one or close friend offering a protected space to share feelings, emotions and tears [can] have a big impact on a nurse’s life,” she said.

Self-compassion

Compassion fatigue can impact self-esteem, especially in nursing. Nurses have a lot of responsibility, and the burden of it can cause various emotional reactions, including self-criticism, frustration or stress. “Whether your primary role is as a bedside caregiver or a volunteer serving others, there is always a risk of feeling overwhelmed,” Richardson said, adding that the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated these feelings. If you feel overwhelmed, inadequate, or hurt, you can practice self-compassion to minimize these feelings. With self-compassion, you remove instances of anxiety, shame, or frustration and make space for them comfort, respect and recognition. This is your way of offering yourself understanding and gentleness when you feel like you are failing.

By replacing self-judgment with self-kindness, you may notice a positive change in your focus.

For some nurses, being compassionate with themselves is a challenge. The study found that some nurses felt they needed “permission.” caring and compassionate. This issue impacted nurses’ well-being and their ability to provide empathetic care. However, the results showed that by helping nurses take a more proactive approach to self-compassion, they could reduce or prevent negative impacts on their well-being. “It makes a huge difference when we recognize and celebrate that we are not alone in our struggles,” Richardson said. “Through self-compassion, we can reduce the pain of compassion fatigue and allow ourselves to empathize more fully with our patients.”

Reflection

Nursing remains the largest profession in health careand throughout their careers, nurses are constantly learning, developing, and adapting. They will face both positive and negative aspects in their roles, including obstacles that impact their well-being. Reflection or reflective practice it has been shown to improve nurses’ well-being by reducing work-related stress and conditions such as compassion fatigue. Using this method – individually or in a group – allows you to break down aspects of your personal and professional life and reflect on these experiences to improve your overall well-being. While reflection allows you to consider what went wrong, it also encourages you to focus on what went right. This technique can make you feel more motivated, provide more learning experiences, and provide higher quality care. Reflective practice breaks things down into steps that define the overall situation, how you feel, why it happened, and what you could have done differently. This practice is also not limited to individual experiences. Reflection how far you have come in your nursing career and recognizing the areas of your practice that you have strengthened and continue to develop are helpful in combating compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue can have a lasting impact on nurses’ physical and mental well-being, impacting both nurses and patients. By recognizing and eliminating the signs of this condition, you can protect your mental and physical health.