Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
Committee Chair
Tracy Arnold
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore levels of compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, burnout, and secondary post-traumatic stress of critical care nurses. Compassion fatigue is a combination of physical, emotional, and spiritual depletion that caregivers experience when they care for patients who are in physical or emotional distress. Compassion fatigue has affected many nurses and has a direct effect on patients' satisfactions. Jean Watson's Theory of Human Caring served as the theoretical framework for this study. The literature shows that there is a prevalence of compassion fatigue of acute care nurses. A quantitative study was performed using the ProQOL tool and the participants' demographics to determine the level of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and post-secondary traumatic stress. Descriptive statistics were used and the results showed critical care nurses had an average level of compassion satisfaction and burnout with a low secondary post-traumatic stress level. This study serves to add to the current literature.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Citation Information
Couch, Lyndsey Brooke, "Compassion Fatigue and Burnout of Critical Care Nurses" (2017). Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects. 289.
https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/nursing_etd/289