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theses

Compassion fatigue occurs when individuals who care for others suffer trauma and no longer have the ability to nurture others. When this happens to nurses, their ability to provide compassion and appropriate nursing care is reduced.

Purpose: This project worked to reduce compassion fatigue in nurses working at the bedside in a large rehabilitation hospital in New York using interventions which were successful in other types of settings.

Methodology: In this project, the challenge of compassion fatigue was addressed using the Knowledge to Action (KTA) model. Rehabilitation nurses were given the ProQOL survey instrument to measure compassion fatigue at the start of the study and then 6 weeks after the start of interventions. Three interventions which were successful in oncology and ER settings were used with the rehabilitation nurses to determine if they could reduce compassion fatigue in this setting. The interventions used were self-care planning, mindfulness meditation, and knitting.

Results: The sample which included 17 nurses demonstrated that interventions which were tested in oncology and emergency room settings can be applied to the rehabilitation setting and can significantly reduce the level of burnout and secondary traumatic stress which are both components of compassion fatigue. Results of the project demonstrated that nurses were able to reduce their level of burnout following the interventions. The survey before the interventions demonstrated that 76% (n=13) of nurses had low levels of burnout prior to the interventions. Twenty four percent (n=4) had average levels of burnout. Following the 6-week intervention period, 88% (n=15) of nurses had low levels of burnout and 12% (n=2) had average levels of burnout. This project demonstrates that these low-cost simple interventions can be useful in reducing compassion fatigue in the rehabilitation setting.

Implications for Practice: Providing frequent education and incorporating training on compassion fatigue and helpful interventions should be provided on a regular basis as part of maintaining a healthy work environment. Compassion fatigue is adding to the nursing profession’s challenges with retaining new graduate nurses and is contributing to the nearly 20% of nurses who leave the profession within the first year (Kelly & Todd, 2017). By incorporating effective interventions into onboarding, throughout the first year of practice, and as part of annual competencies, this New York hospital hopes to reduce turnover and increase retention of new nurses.

ETD_10780

DNP

Includes bibliographical references

doi:10.7282/t3-gsjf-sb24

ETD doctoral

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