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  • Essay / What is Compassion Nursing Fatigue and Burnout

    Compassion is defined as “a sympathetic awareness of the distress of others as well as a desire to alleviate it” (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 2019). To be more specific, compassion is a complex and abstract idea that is described as an emotional response to the vulnerability and suffering of another individual. This response, in turn, motivates the individual to strive for the best outcome for the one in distress (Lee, Daugherty, Eskierka, & Hamelin, 2019). Although compassion is an essential quality for providing high-quality patient care, nurses are often exposed to many workplace stressors caused by institutional challenges that can lead to negative outcomes for nursing professionals. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay In response to the workplace stressors that nurses face in hospital settings, many have developed ineffective coping mechanisms demonstrated by detachment and relational distance while others have experienced compassion fatigue and burnout (Lee, Daugherty, Eskierka, & Hamelin, 2019). Compassion fatigue occurs when nurses unknowingly internalize their patients' anxiety, trauma, and distress, leading to burnout. Burnout can be described as a prolonged response to physical and emotional stressors that result in feelings of exhaustion, overwhelmed, insecurity, anxiety, cynicism, and ineffectiveness (Henry, 2014). Symptoms of burnout in nurses include irritability, frequent calling in sick, intolerance of change, physical exhaustion, and being mentally “examined” (Nursing.org, 2019). Compassion fatigue and burnout can be caused by overall negative hospital work environments. The three main factors contributing to an unhealthy workplace are harassment and lateral violence, understaffing and long working hours, and continued exposure to illness and death. The consequences, resulting from all three contributors, include nurses leaving the profession, decreased patient satisfaction, decreased positive patient outcomes, medical errors, depression, and suicide. The number one contributing factor to compassion fatigue and burnout in nursing is bullying and lateral violence. Lateral violence is explained as an abusive or disrespectful situation between individuals of the same level. Some examples of lateral violence include nurses being disrespectful to each other, seasoned nurses not offering to help other nurses, and newly graduated nurses being ignored. Harassment is described as a violent situation in which the perpetrator is at a higher level than the victim. Examples of bullying include managers who are openly disrespectful in front of colleagues, nurses who are inappropriately singled out in meetings, nurses who are routinely assigned the most difficult patients or who are transferred to other patients. other floors more than other nurses, and who don't care about DNA vs. BSN. degree (Gillespie, Grubb, Brown, Boesch, & Ulrich, 2017). Many consequences arise from lateral violence and intimidation at the venue., 2008).