What is Nursing Compassion Fatigue and Burnout

Compassion is basically when you notice someone else’s suffering and you feel like helping them out (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 2019). It’s an emotional reaction to seeing someone vulnerable and wanting to make things better for them (Lee, Daugherty, Eskierka, & Hamelin, 2019). Compassion’s pretty essential for giving good care to patients, but here’s the thing—nurses deal with a lot of stress at work, and that can mess with their ability to be as compassionate as they’d like to be.

How Workplace Stress Impacts Nurses

Hospitals are high-stress environments, and nurses deal with all kinds of pressure. Over time, they can develop bad coping habits, like distancing themselves emotionally from patients or even each other. Some nurses end up suffering from compassion fatigue and burnout (Lee, Daugherty, Eskierka, & Hamelin, 2019). Compassion fatigue happens when nurses take on too much of their patients’ stress and trauma without even realizing it, leading to burnout. Burnout, on the other hand, is a long-term reaction to all the stress, making nurses feel tired, overwhelmed, anxious, and less effective at their jobs (Henry, 2014). You might notice nurses getting irritable, calling in sick more often, or just not being mentally present (Nursing.org, 2019).

What Causes Compassion Fatigue and Burnout?

There are a few things that make hospital environments tough on nurses. Three main problems are bullying and lateral violence, not enough staff, and constantly dealing with illness and death. These issues lead to some serious consequences, like nurses leaving their jobs, patients being less satisfied with their care, medical errors, and even nurse depression or suicide.

Bullying and Lateral Violence Among Nurses

One major issue is bullying and lateral violence. Lateral violence happens when people on the same level at work are disrespectful or even abusive to each other. For example, experienced nurses might refuse to help newer nurses or be rude. Bullying is a bit different—it's when someone in a higher position, like a manager, picks on a nurse. Maybe the manager criticizes them in front of others, or maybe a nurse is always assigned the hardest patients or forced to work on different floors more than anyone else (Gillespie, Grubb, Brown, Boesch, & Ulrich, 2017).

Bullying and lateral violence have some really bad effects. Nurses end up quitting, switching careers, or dealing with anxiety and depression, and in some cases, even suicide. Did you know that almost 60% of new nurses leave their first job within six months because of bullying? That’s a huge number! And 32% of new grads say they’ve been bullied (Colduvell, 2017). When this happens, nurses also report feeling less mentally healthy, working poorly with their team, communicating less, and not being as productive (Gillespie et al., 2017).

Not Enough Staff and Long Hours

Another big problem is understaffing. Not having enough nurses on a shift leads to longer workdays and more stress. This is especially true when hospitals have staffing shortages, people are calling in sick, or budgets are cut (Garrett, 2008). Nurses often end up working more than 8 hours a day, taking extra shifts, or doing overtime just to cover for absent coworkers (Eriksen, 2018). These long hours can really wear nurses down, contributing to burnout.

When there aren’t enough nurses, it can lead to a whole list of problems. Nurses might rush through tasks, leading to more mistakes. This can result in lower-quality patient care and lower patient satisfaction (Eriksen, 2018). Plus, the heavy workload can cause fatigue, poor sleep, absenteeism, and low job satisfaction. Nurses who work overtime also tend to make more medication errors, which can seriously affect patient outcomes. In contrast, hospitals with enough nurses on staff have fewer negative patient outcomes, like infections or extended hospital stays (Garrett, 2008).

Conclusion

Compassion is a vital part of nursing, but things like bullying, understaffing, and long hours can really take a toll. These stressors lead to compassion fatigue and burnout, which negatively impact not only the nurses but also the patients they care for. Hospitals need to focus on creating a healthier work environment, with enough staff and support to reduce these stressors. That way, nurses can continue to provide the compassionate care that’s so essential for patients, and they’ll be able to stay in the profession longer, without burning out.