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Compassion Fatigue And Resilience In Long-Term Care Nurses, Dierdre C. De Gravina

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between CF and resilience in LTC nurses. Watson’s caring theory was the theoretical foundation for the study. A survey containing demographic questions and items from the Professional Quality of Life Measure and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale survey was administered online to 111 LTC nurses from 10 states across the Eastern Seaboard. A simple linear regression analysis was performed to identify if there was an association between CF and resilience. The results indicated that the model was significant (p<.001). Results revealed an inverse relationship that with higher resilience scores, CF scores were lower and when CF was high, resilience was lower. The study may promote positive social change by highlighting the need for LTC facility managers to identify strategies that foster increased LTC nurse resilience such as improving work environments and developing programs that promote mental and emotional health of LTC nurses. Implementation of these strategies may reduce CF and promote nurse job retention and ultimately improve patient care. Recommendations for future research include quantitative studies to consider the effect of age, length of time in practice, and education level on resiliency and CF and qualitative studies on strategies for increasing resiliency among nurses in LTC facilities.