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Combatting Compassion Fatigue

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Combating Compassion Fatigue Compassion is defined as a feeling of wanting to help someone who is sick, hungry, or in trouble, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary. Compassion is a fundamental characteristic needed by health care providers. Compassion is what makes patient care enjoyable; without compassion, patients would begin to feel neglected. There are many different types of health care providers, but the ones who have the most contact with the patients are the nurses. Nurses provide such selfless and devoted service, compassion, and dedication to their patients and to their job. Many nurses work long twelve hour shifts, but not all. This can be very tiring though, and it may not leave a lot of room for a personal life. Sometimes nurses are so consumed with work, that they often neglect their personal needs. In doing that, it makes them susceptible to a disorder called compassion fatigue or burnout. Compassion fatigue is exactly what it sounds like; it is an indifference to charitable appeals on behalf of those who are suffering (Google dictionary). It is characterized by a gradual lessoning of compassion over time. Often times, compassion fatigue occurs due to the demands of the stressful situations health care providers are forced to encounter everyday. There are five major concepts of compassion fatigue. There is the cognitive, emotional, behavioral, spiritual, and the somatic. Each of these concepts has warning signs to be aware of. The first concept is cognitive. Cognitive symptoms of compassion fatigue are lowered concentration, apathy, rigidity, disorientation, minimization, preoccupation with trauma, and low self-esteem (Portnoy, 2011). Sometimes, cognitive symptoms can be more difficult for others to detect depending on the person, and which symptoms they are experiencing. Emotional is another concept of compassion fatigue. Emotional symptoms

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