Phenomenological study of the effects of traumatic birth events on compassion fatigue among midwives / 中国实用护理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To provide theoretical reference for the construction of effective prevention and control strategies. The study deeply investigates the impact of traumatic birth events on compassion fatigue and inner feelings of midwives.Methods:Fifteen midwives from five tertiary hospitals in Guangzhou were interviewed in depth by semi-structured interview method from April to June 2021. Colaizzi analysis and Nvivo12 plus software were used to analyze and integrate the data and extract themes.Results:Three main themes were extracted, including the characteristics of traumatic birth events (high incidence, sudden and dangerous, preventable and controllable); exacerbating compassion fatigue (reducing compassion satisfaction levels; exacerbating burnout; and aggravating traumatic stress responses); and exploring effective coping strategies (time required for adjustment, seeking stress release).Conclusions:As a strong stressor, traumatic birth events aggravate the symptoms of compassion fatigue in midwives. Managers should pay attention to the occupational exposure of traumatic childbirth events, actively guide midwives to make psychological adjustments. In addition, managers can increase social support and strengthen the ideological and political education of midwives, so that they have good stress tolerance and excellent professional psychological quality.