Compassion Fatigue and Compassion Satisfaction among Staff Nurses Working in Critical Care Units

When compassion has been demonstrated for a long time, compassion fatigue could manifest as a negative outcome. Nurses who are affected by compassion fatigue have expressed feelings of depression, which may be related to the constant emotional trauma they experience by virtue of being employed in critical care areas. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted to assess compassion fatigue in terms of burnout and secondary traumatic stress and compassion satisfaction among nurses working in the critical care units of a tertiary care hospital in Punjab. A total of 100 staff nurses were selected by convenience sampling technique. Data was collected by socio-demographic profile, professional profile and Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) Version 5 (2009). The results revealed that 65 percent of the subjects had average level, 34 percent had low and only 1 percent had high level of burnout. It was found that 59 percent of the subjects had average level of secondary traumatic stress, 40 percent had low level and only 1 percent had high level of secondary traumatic stress. Majority (54%) had average level, 45 percent had high level and only 1 percent had low level of compassion satisfaction. Secondary traumatic stress was found to be significantly associated with socio-economic status, duration of work experience in critical care units and leave in past one week. Compassion satisfaction was significantly associated with age, habitat, professional qualification and extra duties performed. Majority of the subjects had average level of burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Secondary traumatic stress was higher in staff nurses who belonged to lower middle class (p=0.05) and who had not taken leave in the past one weak and among staff nurses who had 11-15 years of work experience in critical care units.

Secondary trauma amongst administrative support staff working with traumatic incident dockets within the South African Police Service in Johannesburg, South Africa

Background: Secondary trauma is trauma experienced by those in close contact with the victims of trauma. Research shows that some individuals exposed to photographs or video presentations of traumatic events may experience secondary trauma. This includes administrative staff within the South African Police Service (SAPS), who work with trauma dockets. Objectives: We explored the effects of secondary trauma on administrative support staff within the SAPS, their access to psychological support in the SAPS, and their use of the employee health and wellness (EHW) services in the SAPS. Methods: An exploratory qualitative study was conducted among administrative support staff from one of the four Johannesburg clusters of the SAPS. In-depth interviews took place with seven staff members. The data were analysed using Atlas.ti. Results: Administrative support staff are exposed to trauma through incident dockets, victim statements, and gruesome images. The study participants indicated that they experienced trauma daily, and symptoms of trauma such as flashbacks, anxiety, sadness, nightmares, paranoia, avoidance, recurrent thoughts, and fear of death. They were overprotective of their loved ones and paranoid. They were not utilising the EHW services due to lack of access to appropriate services, or the stigma attached to seeking help from mental health professionals. Conclusion: The SAPS needs to develop and implement a strategy to mitigate the impact of secondary trauma on its personnel, which include administrative support staff. Evidence-based interventions, such as resilience training, should be considered as part of the strategy

Factors related to Professional Quality of Life among Community Health Practitioners in Korea / 산업간호학회지

PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to examine the work, client, and personal environments of community health practitioners, including the level of their professional quality of life (ProQOL), and identify the factors affecting their ProQOL. METHODS: Data were collected using a web-survey questionnaire, which was completed by a sample of 308 community health practitioners currently working in Korea. The questionnaire included items on ProQOL; three dimensions labeled compassion satisfaction, burn out, and secondary traumatic stress; job stress; job satisfaction; sense of community; and general characteristics. RESULTS: The mean scores for the three dimensions were 39.2±6.44 (compassion satisfaction), 31.9±3.59 (burn out), and 26.4±5.05 (secondary traumatic stress). A multiple linear regression revealed that compassion satisfaction varied significantly according to the satisfaction with job choice, sense of community, job stress, and job satisfaction. The factors affecting burn out were sense of community and work load, while the factors affecting secondary traumatic stress were education, job stress, and job satisfaction. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that comprehensive intervention focusing on improving the sense of community and job satisfaction and reducing job stress is essential to promote community health practitioners' ProQOL.

Intervention study of compassion fatigue of oncology nurses in Balint group activities / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

Objective@#To explore the effectiveness of Balint group on compassion fatigue among oncology nurses.@*Methods@#From January to December 2016, 35 oncology nurses from one general hospital were enrolled. 18 cases were allocated in the observation group and 17 cases in the control group by computer randomization. Nurses in the observation group were received a total of 8 times Balint Group activities, with 2 times a month and 1.5 hours each time, which is aiming to discuss difficult cases encountered in the clinic to help nurses have a deeper experience and a better understanding of the emotions and behaviors, fantasies and needs between nurse-patient interaction. Nurses in the control group without intervention. All the Participants were requested to complete the survey of the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) , the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Professionals (JSE-HP) , and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) at pre and post intervention.@*Results@#Before intervention, two group of nurses in age, working years, marriage, and education were not statistically significant (P>0.05). There was no difference in the scores of empathy, compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress, and General health (P>0.05). After intervention, the scores of JSE-HP and its three dimensions of perspective taking, emotional care, and trans-positional consideration in the observation group had significantly higher than the control group (P<0.05). The level of compassion satisfaction in the observation group was higher, and the general health status was lower (P<0.05). There was no statistically difference in the level of burnout and secondary traumatic stress between two groups (P>0.05) .@*Conclusion@#Balint group has a positive role in promoting nurses’empathetic skills, compassion satisfaction and mental health.

Secondary Traumatic Stress and Burnout of North Korean Refugees Service Providers

OBJECTIVE: The current study investigated the burnout and secondary traumatic stress of service providers for North Korean (NK) refugees based on the conceptual framework of theJob Demands-Resources (JD-R) model of workplace burnout. METHODS: A cross-sectional self-administered survey was conducted with a national sample consisting of all 63 organizations in direct services to North Korean refugees. Of the estimated total number of 230 service providers comprising of social workers, psychotherapists, job counselors and paraprofessional counselors, 179 completed the survey, a 77.8% return rate. RESULTS: While job resources such as personal commitment to work and organizational support indicated inverse relations to burnout, job demands such as workload, work environment and secondary traumatic stress (STS) showed a positive relationship to worker burnout. The STS were present in more than half of the respondents (51.3%), of which 20.7% of them indicating a severe level of STS. The STS proved to be the most significant risk to worker burnout as it showed strong relations to all three dimensions of burnout. CONCLUSION: Structural issues of chronic work overload and poor work environment need to be addressed to reduce staff burnout. STS is a serious occupational hazard in working with North Korean refugees.

The Evaluation Acute Traumatic Stress Level in Close Relatives of Stroke Patients

OBJECTIVE: Stroke is the second most common cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability. Both stroke patients and their family can therefore experience increased traumatic stress level. METHODS: The participants are close relatives of patients (n=65) who had a first time stroke (CRPWS) hospitalized. A control group (CG) (n=61), who had no history of chronic illness in their family and had at least one traumatic life event experience. The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, Modified Rankin Scale, Personal Information Form, Life Events Checklist, Traumatic Stress Symptom Scale, and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, were used in the study. RESULTS: We found no significant association between NIHSS and MRS of patients and traumatic stress level of the family member. The traumatic stress level was significantly higher in the CRPWS group than in the CG group. Traumatic stress level was higher in women than men and was not associated with perceived social support in the CRPWS group. CONCLUSION: The traumatic stress level of the relatives was not associated with the clinical features of the stroke patients. In the early phase, after the diagnosis of stroke, psychological support may be important to prevent CRPWS from PTSD.

Estrés traumático secundario (ETS) en periodistas Mexicanos y defensores de derechos humanos / Secondary traumatic stress (STS) in Mexican journalists and human dights defenders

El objetivo del presente estudio descriptivo fue identificar la prevalencia de síntomas de estrés traumático secundario (ETS) en una muestra conjunta de periodistas mexicanos y defensores de derechos humanos (N igual 88), cuyo trabajo profesional demanda regularmente un contacto cercano con víctimas de violencia. Se encontró que 36.4 por ciento de los participantes presentaron sintomatología "alta” o “severa” de ETS. Sin embargo, no se ubicaron diferencias significativas entre ambos grupos. Por otra parte, las mujeres y quienes laboraban más de 40 horas a la semana, sí mostraron síntomas significativamente más altos. Los resultados de esta investigación transversal reflejan el considerable desgaste psicológico que pueden generar las exposiciones secundarias en profesionistas que documentan y establecen vínculos sistemáticos con personas traumatizadas por la violencia social en México.

The main goal of this descriptive study was to identify the prevalence of secondary traumatic stress (STS) symptoms in a pooled sample of Mexican journalists and human right defenders (N same 88), whose activities regularly demand a close contact with victims of violence. It was found that 36.4 percen of the participants presented “high” or “severe” STS symptoms. However, no significant differences between these groups of professionals were observed. Conversely, women and those who worked more than 40 hours a week presented significantly more severe symptoms. The results of this transversal investigation reflect the psychologic wear that these secondary exposures can generate in professionals who establish systematic links with subjects who have been traumatized by the social violence prevalent in modern Mexican society.

La evaluación del estrés traumático secundario: estudio comparado en bomberos y paramédicos de los Servicios de Emergencia de Guadalajara, México / Secondary traumatic stress assesment: compared study in firemen and paramedics in emergency services

El estrés traumático secundario, se refiere a un proceso por el cual "un individuo que observa el sufrimiento de otro, experimenta paralelamente las mismas respuestas emocionales a las emociones reales o esperadas de la otra persona", Moreno, Morante, Rodríguez & Garrosa (2004). A partir de esta noción, Moreno, Garrosa, Morante, Rodríguez & Losada (2004b) diseñaron el cuestionario de estrés traumático secundario (CETS). Se presenta un estudio comparado en dos muestras de bomberos y paramédicos con un total de 427 sujetos. Los paramédicos se percibieron con mayor presión social y mayor nivel de comprensibilidad, los bomberos con mayor percepción de sobrecarga laboral, mayor nivel de empatía y consecuencias sociales. Las mujeres se percibieron con mayor presión social en el trabajo y los hombres con mayor sobrecarga laboral y sentido del humor. Se reportan correlaciones entre las sub escalas del CETS, que confirman la relación entre las dimensiones de un modelo procesual desarrollado por Moreno, Morante, Rodríguez & Rodríguez (2008).

The concept of secondary traumatic stress refers to a process whereby "an individual who observes the suffering of another, parallel experience the same emotional responses to actual or anticipated emotions of another person," Moreno, Morante, Rodríguez & Garrosa (2004). Based in this model Moreno, Garrosa, Morante, Rodríguez & Losada (2004b) designed the secondary traumatic stress questionnaire (STSQ). This study presents a comparative study of secondary traumatic stress realized with 427 subjects divided in two samples of firefighters and emergency paramedics. Emergency paramedics perceived more social pressure and a higher level of comprehension, while firefighters had a higher perception of work overload, high level of empathy and social consequences. Gender differences show that women perceived more social pressure at work and men perceived more overload and sense of humor. Correlations between the subscales of STSQ, confirm the relationship between the dimensions of the process model developed by Moreno, Morante, Rodríguez & Rodríguez (2008).

Efectos de una intervención cognitivo-conductual en el aumento de conductas de autocuidado y disminución del estrés traumático secundario en psicólogos clínicos / Effects of a cognitive-behavioral treatment on the increase of self-care behaviors and decrease of secondary traumatic stress on clinical psychologists

En la presente investigación se evalúa la efectividad de un taller de autocuidado de orientación cognitivo conductual diseñado para ser aplicado a psicólogos clínicos con altos niveles de estrés traumático secundario. El objetivo del taller es aumentar la frecuencia de emisión de conductas de autocuidado y disminuir los niveles de estrés traumático secundario en los psicólogos. Mediante un diseño cuasi-experimental se evalúan los efectos del taller. Los resultados indican que, después de las 5 sesiones que dura el taller, los psicólogos que participaron en él (n=9) aumentaron significativamente sus conductas de autocuidado y disminuyeron significativamente sus niveles de desgaste. En cambio, los psicólogos que no participaron del taller (n=12) no variaron en la frecuencia del autocuidado y aumentaron el estrés traumático secundario. En virtud de estos resultados se concluye que el taller es efectivo y se constituye como una alternativa para prevenir y tratar el desgaste laboral en psicólogos clínicos.

In the present investigation, we evaluate the effectiveness of a group therapy program for self-care with cognitive-behavioral orientation, designed to be used on clinical psychologists with high levels of secondary traumatic stress. The object of this group therapy program is to increase the frequency of emissions of self-care behaviors and decrease the levels of secondary traumatic stress in psychologists. By a quasi-experimental design, we evaluate the group therapy program effects. The results indicate that, after 5 sessions that lasts the group therapy program, the psychologists that participated in it (n = 9) increased significantly their self-care behaviors and decreased significantly their secondary traumatic stress levels. Instead, the psychologists that did not participate in the group therapy program (n = 12) did not show variation on self-care frequency and they increased secondary traumatic stress. These results are conclusive that the group therapy program is effective and it represents an alternative to prevent and treat work related burnout in clinical psychologists.