The following excerpts about compassion fatigue are from an article in NurseZone.com by Debra Wood, RN.
Source: NurseZone - On the job - Nursing news - Archive.
...too much caring, especially when confronted with legions of victims of a disaster or patients with grave illnesses, can result in compassion fatigue.
Compassion fatigue refers to a type of burnout, but differs from dissatisfaction with the job or frustration with the system in that it directly relates to caring.
“A lot of health-care providers have a big heart and are energy sponges,” said Judith Orloff, MD, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles and author of the book Positive Energy: 10 Extraordinary Prescriptions for Transforming Fatigue, Stress & Fear into Vibrance, Strength & Love. “When they listen to somebody, they tend take on that energy in their own bodies and become exhausted by it.”
Orloff calls this intuitive empathy. Such people feel other’s pain and are overly sensitive.
Those suffering from compassion fatigue may feel chronically tired and irritable; dread going to work or walking into a patient’s room; not find joy in life; feel trapped; drink more alcohol or overeat; or experience an aggravation of existing physical ailments, such as headaches or fibromyalgia.
Nurses working in emergency departments, on oncology units, in hospice programs, and on disaster-relief efforts are at special risk, because of the trauma, death and seeming endless needs of patients.
