Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
Committee Chair
Abigail Garlock
Abstract
Nurses in today’s healthcare arena face numerous challenges and demands from the organization, personally, professionally, and their patients. These pressures can culminate into the development of compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue (CF) has been defined as a combination of physical, emotional, and spiritual depletion associated with caring for patients. Compassion fatigue is linked to increased turnover, decreased teammate engagement, and poor clinical performance. The purpose of this thesis was to assess the prevalence of CF among nurses, and to determine if a relationship exists between CF and amount exercised each week. The organizing framework was based on Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort. The participants of the study were registered nurses or licensed practical nurses working at the bedside. Kendall’s tau-b was used to determine the correlation between compassion fatigue and exercise. The data did not provide support that there is a significant relationship between compassion fatigue and exercise. However, information gained from this study provides insight on the prevalence of compassion fatigue and the need for further investigation into coping strategies.
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Citation Information
Yeargin, Cynthia Harrill, "The Relationship between Exercise and Compassion Fatigue in Nurses" (2017). Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects. 304.
https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/nursing_etd/304