Compassion fatigue: A Study of critical care nurses in Turkey

• Published in: International journal of human sciences Vol. 13; no. 2; p. 2879
• Main Authors: Dikmen, Yurdanur, Aydın, Yasemin, Tabakoğlu, Pınar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: J-Human Sciences 24-06-2016
• Subjects: Arkeoloji; Felsefe & Psikoloji & Sosyoloji; Mimarlık ve Tasarım; Siyasal Bilimler; Turizm; Türkiye; Sakarya; Nursing Care; Compassion; Critical Care Nurses; Compassion Fatigue
• ISSN: 1303-5134; 2458-9489; 1303-5134
• DOI: 10.14687/jhs.v13i2.3752

This study was conducted to determine the level of compassion fatigue which experienced by nurses who work in intensive care units and factors that affecting it.In a cross sectional design, critical nurses were surveyed by using questionnaire and  compassion fatigue (CF) subscale of the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL R-IV) to measure levels of compassion fatigueat a large National Education and ResearchHospital located in northwestof Turkey. A total of 69 critical care nurses participated in the study, for a response rate of 78%.A series of cross tab analyses examined the relationship between nurses demographics and compassion fatigue (CF) subscale. To analyze the data further, participants were recategorized into 2 groups for CF scores: (1) higher than 17: high risk and (2) lower than 17: low risk.Findings show that critical care nurses were at high risk (52.7%) and low risk (47.3%) for CF. Nurses informed significant differences in compassion fatigue on the basis of age, years of critical care experience, working hours (weekly).