Nursing Commons^™

Defining A Person: The Nurse At Risk For Compassion Fatigue, Ellen Johnston

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis was to examine compassion fatigue in nurses through analysis of research studies conducted within the past five years in an effort to identify predisposing factors to the experience of compassion fatigue. Individual and institutional factors were identified as well as current strategies to assist with management of compassion fatigue. Findings indicated that being new to practice, having a trait negative affect, being younger in age, having a history of exposure to trauma and working in high emotionally stressful units predisposed individuals to the experience of compassion fatigue. Institutional factors included a lack of managerial support, …

Nurses' Reflection, Compassion Fatigue, And Work Burnout - A Correlational Analysis, Sarah Urban

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Compassion fatigue and work-related burnout are harmful reactions to patient situations and work environments that negatively affect nurses' well-being and ability to provide safe, effective patient care. However, research is needed to understand how reflection as a self-care response to patient situations is related to nurses' development of work burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary traumatic stress, a type of compassion fatigue. The purpose of this correlational, cross-sectional quantitative study was to determine the relationship between hospital-based acute care nurses' levels of reflection and their levels of compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and work burnout. The study was based on Hentz …

Developing An Educational Module On Compassion Fatigue, Francisca Chinyere Hennes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Compassion fatigue is viewed as a disconcerting issue facing healthcare professionals in the clinical care milieu, and nurses are identified as the most susceptible population among healthcare professionals. The purpose of this project was to create positive social change by helping oncology nurses find ways to enhance self-care and self-awareness, thereby reducing the risk of compassion fatigue and burnout among healthcare professionals. This project investigated an educational module on compassion fatigue that focused on (a) identifying the occurrence rates of compassion fatigue among oncology nurses, (b) evaluating the demographic features that were associated with the most frequent rates of compassion …

Debriefing In The Emergency Department, Alyssa Johnson

Master's Projects and Capstones

Emergency Department (ED) staff are repeatedly exposed to high stress situations and as a result suffer from compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, burnout and high turnover rates. Staff turnover is costly to the health system in the form of training new staff and potential poor patient outcomes due to under staffing or inexperience of staff. Based on a survey about debriefing, Level 1 Adult and Pediatric Emergency Department staff reported 81% felt there was inadequate support for critically stressful events that occur. Debriefing was identified by 75% of the staff as an option for support. …

A Qualitative Study Of Rural Nurse Practitioners' In Medically Underserved Clinics, Jama J. Bogart

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Project

Retention of nurse practitioners is a serious problem in rural medically underserved areas. This study focused on the underserved areas in southeast Kansas, southwest Missouri, and northern Oklahoma. Approximately, three million persons reside in rural medically-underserved areas of the study area. Seventy-three percent of these adults have at least two or more complex chronic medical conditions and there are only 526 nurse practitioners to care for them. Rural providers face many challenges in caring for these individuals and experience anxiety and stress while caring for them. The purpose of this research study was to explore, analyze, and describe the phenomena …

Providing Care For Many In The Context Of Few Resources: Secondary Traumatic Stress, Burnout And Moral Distress Experienced By Healthcare Providers In Rural Uganda, Lauren Michelle Dewey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the context of the global nursing shortage, and particularly in low-resource settings, nurses are at an increased risk for work-related stress problems like secondary traumatic stress (STS), burnout, and moral distress. These three work-related mental health consequences, sometimes associated with absenteeism and intent to leave the profession, could potentially contribute further to the shortage of nurses. This two-part study is a longitudinal examination of the work-related mental health consequences experienced by healthcare providers in rural Uganda. In Study 1, participants (n=208; 159 students and 49 experienced health workers) completed self-report, psychosocial measures at baseline and 134 of the students …

Implementation Of A Nursing Workload Tool To Reduce Nurse Burnout, Nicole K. Greives

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Nursing burnout and workload is a complicated issue with far-reaching effects. Nursing burnout and inappropriate nursing workload have been linked to increased risk of urinary tract infection, respiratory infections, decreased patient satisfaction, decreased quality and safety of care, and increased mortality. The purpose of the project was to decrease nursing burnout on a Medical Progressive Care Unit (MPCU) by moving patients with high workloads and medical instability to a higher level of care. Within this project, Rosabeth Kanter’s Theory of Structural Power was used for the theoretical framework, and the Stetler Model guided the implementation. The intervention consisted of a …

Flight Nurses’ Narratives Of Traumatic Patient Care Events: Why Do They Stay?, Joanne Booth Newton

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

As frontline providers of care, flight nurses are continuously exposed to traumatic patient care events; they are, accordingly, highly vulnerable to the injurious effects of compassion fatigue. Flight nursing is an exclusive nursing specialty in which highly trained registered nurses provide comprehensive pre-hospital, emergency, and critical care to patients with urgent or life-threatening conditions aboard helicopter or fixed wing aircraft or, when necessary due to unfavorable weather conditions, by ground ambulance. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of five flight nurses; to better understand the factors they perceived to be contributors or barriers to compassion …

Compassion Fatigue In Emergency Department Nurses, Dionne Hutson Hendy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Compassion fatigue (CF) is a problem seen within healthcare institutions worldwide, especially critical care units and emergency departments (EDs). The problem identified in this quality improvement (QI) project was CF, experienced by nurses in the ED. The effects of CF cross nurse-patient boundaries and negatively impact a patient's expectations of having a quality care experience. The Iowa model's evidence-based team approach was used to guide the development of the education initiative for nurses on recognizing, preventing, and identifying methods of coping with CF in the ED. The outcome products for the project included an extensive review of the literature, a …

Relationship Among Motivation, Emotion Regulation, And Psychological Well-Being Of Sophomore And Senior Level Nursing Students, Aryene Delgado, Douglas Garner, Nicole Langhals

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Nursing education and professional work involve stressful circumstances that may lead to attrition, which can further contribute to the projected nursing shortage. This study examines the relationships between motivation, emotional regulation, psychological well-being and academic performance in baccalaureate sophomore and senior level nursing students at a Midwest urban university in the United States. The non-experimental, correlational study is guided by Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory and uses an online survey data collection and convenience sampling. Measures include: motivation, emotional regulation, psychological well-being (burnout; inauthenticity), and academic performance (GPA), and will be measured using Deci and Ryan’s scale, the Emotion Regulation …

Nurses' Occupational Trauma Exposure, Resilience, And Coping Education, Sherry Lynn Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nursing education courses and professional development (PD) do not include coping and resilience training for registered nurses (RNs) who work in emergency departments (EDs). Exposure to traumatic events, death, and dying may lead to health issues, substance abuse, stress symptoms, nursing staff turnover, and compassion fatigue among ED RNs. Without training, the pattern of adverse outcomes may continue. The purpose of this study was to explore ED RNs' experiences with occupational traumatic stress (OTS), and their recommendations for change to nursing PD programs, using a qualitative bounded intrinsic case study. The conceptual framework for this study included social learning and …

The Effect Of Education On Compassion Fatigue As Experienced By Staff Nurses, Kathryn L. Zehr

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Historically, nursing has been perceived as a highly rewarding profession. Yet, due to the increasing complexity of today’s healthcare, nurses are faced with greater challenges in their work environments. Registered nurses who work in tertiary care settings are exposed to disturbing patient situations including trauma, death, abuse, or chronic disease. Joinson (1992) described this experience as compassion fatigue and symptoms include headaches, short attention span, or fatigue. A review of literature has identified that nurses should be educated about risk factors and coping strategies to combat compassion fatigue. Guided by the Model for Evidence-Based Practice Change and Jean Watson’s Theory …

The Effect Of Art Therapy On Hospice And Palliative Caregivers, Carol E. Gress

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

A quazi-experimental, one-group, pretest/posttest study was conducted with a group of 25 hospice workers employed by a medium sized county hospice organization in the southeastern United States that was experiencing rapid personnel turn-over. Participants in the study included a doctor, a physician’s assistant, a nurse practitioner, a massage therapist, a grief counselor, a licensed practical nurse, a certified nursing assistant, two clergy, three administrative staff, three social workers, seven volunteers, eight registered nurses and one other. The purpose was to investigate whether attending four 1-hour art therapy sessions could help reduce stress and thereby Burnout. Stamm’s (2010) Professional Quality of …

Nurse Burnout: When The Flame Goes Dim, Brittany M. Barden

Theses and Graduate Projects

Anticipating and responding to the needs of others is the forefront of the nursing profession. Nurses all too often place the needs of patients, patient's families, and organizations ahead of their own. The constant care of others without proper attention to one's own needs can lead to nurse burnout. There is little education being provided to nurses regarding the danger and effects of nurse burnout and how one can create a healthy balance between meeting their own needs as well as those of others. The purpose of this project is to develop an educational module that will raise awareness of …

Comparing Generational Differences In Job Satisfaction And Retention (Anticipated Turnover) Among Nurses Working In Magnet Versus Non-Magnet Designated Hospitals, Laura E. Cima

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Background and Purpose of the Study: Experts in the nursing profession predict a catastrophic nursing shortage by 2025. Nursing shortages have devastating effects on hospitals from a quality of care, patient and family satisfaction and financial perspectives. Given these issues, the most logical approach to this shortage is retention of nurses rather than recruitment. The Magnet designation is one mechanism to retain nursing staff.

Another phenomenon exists within the work environment that makes this shortage different from others. Currently, there are four generations of nurses working in the healthcare environment. Each of these generational cohorts has different values and …

Np Bookshelf. [Review Of The Book Compassion Fatigue And Burnout In Nursing: Enhancing Professional Quality Of Life, By V. Todaro-Franceschi], Leslie W. Miles

Faculty Publications

This book is not just for nurses who care for the dying patient but for all nurses who find themselves at some point in their career feeling burned out, dissatisfied with work life, bullied, or lacking a sense of meaning and purpose in their professional quality of life. Todaro-Franceschi identifies the causes of compassion fatigue and burnout as being multifactorial, yet having a core symptom of the nurse internalizing suffering to the point that it negatively transforms the care a nurse can give. The target audience is wide, with application to current practitioners, students, nurse educators, and anyone working in …

Survey Of The Perception Of Nurses In The Critical Care Setting Concerning End-Of-Life Care, Jeff Brown, Dr. Renea Beckstrand

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In an intensive care center, one sees many patients suffering and staff rushing about, caring for patients’ needs. The most important thing about working in the area of intensive care is efficiency. Dr. Renea Beckstrand of the Brigham Young University College of Nursing has been researching the best way to organize and run Intensive Care Units in the United States for several years. She has discovered many ways to improve patient care and resolve nurse burnout issues by asking nurses what they believe helps or impedes nursing care.

Relationship Between Job Satisfaction And Nurse To Patient Ratio With Nurse Burnout, Kayla Teeter

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

There is evidence that the increase in patients per nurse ratio and job dissatisfaction are leading causes of nurse burnout in the United States; however, current research mostly focuses on the hospital setting which limits the generalization of the findings. Therefore, more research is needed beyond the hospital environment. The purpose of this MSN thesis was to examine the relationship between job satisfaction and nurse-patient ratio with nurse burnout among home health nurses. The hypothesis is that home health nurses who experience a higher nurse to patient ratio and greater job dissatisfaction will experience increased nurse burnout. A review of …

Factors That Influence The Development Of Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, And Compassion Satisfaction In Emergency Department Nurses, Stacie Hunsaker, Dale Maughan, Sondra Heaston

Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to determine the prevalence of compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and burnout in emergency department nurses throughout the United States and (b) to examine which demographic and work-related components affect the development of compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and burnout in this nursing specialty.

Design and Methods: This was a non-experimental, descriptive, and predictive study using a self-administrated survey. Survey packets including a demographic questionnaire and the Professional Quality of Life Scale version 5 (ProQOL 5) were mailed to 1,000 selected emergency nurses throughout the United States. The ProQOL 5 scale was used …

Perceptions Of Workplace Bullying Among Practicing Registered Nurses, Crystal Regina Threadgill

Dissertations

Workplace bullying (WPB) is a social and organizational problem. Within the health care arena, employees, particularly registered nurses, are at risk. WPB has several adverse effects and has been cited in the literature as closely associated with burnout and nurses leaving their positions. This quantitative study examined workplace bullying among practicing registered and its relationship with burnout and nurses’ intent to leave their current position.

The surveys utilized were the Negative Acts Questionnaires-Revised (NAQ-R), Maslach Burnout Inventory Survey, Intention to Turnover Scale and a demographic survey. Of the surveys distributed, a total of 185 were returned from one selected hospital …

Compassion Fatigue Among Emergency Department Nurses, Tracy Ann Petleski

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Aim: The purpose of this capstone project was to determine the prevalence of compassion fatigue among emergency department nurses. Background: Healthcare workers especially nurses working in high acuity areas are at high risk for developing compassion fatigue, burnout, and secondary stress. A concern is nurses working in the emergency department are at risk for developing compassion fatigue and should be aware of the concept, self-care activities, and available resources to improve compassion satisfaction scores and to reduce the effects of compassion fatigue burnout, and secondary stress on nurses' working in stressful environments. Method: The project was carried out at a …

Examination Of The Impact Of Race-Related Stress And Culture-Specific Coping On Burnout And Compassion Fatigue In Black Nursing Assistants, Marika A. Maris

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Intrapsychic Predictors Of Professional Quality Of Life: Mindfulness, Empathy, And Emotional Separation, Jacky T. Thomas

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

A growing literature documents the inherently stressful nature of working with persons who are suffering or traumatized, and the potential for the development of stress disorders among social workers and other helpers. Previous studies of compassion fatigue and burnout have provided important information about professional and workplace variables that might influence risk, but little attention has been given to studying intrapersonal skills/abilities that might reduce risk and/or increase resilience and work satisfaction among helping professionals. This exploratory study asked whether levels of mindfulness, empathy, and emotional separation would influence professional quality of life, including compassion fatigue, burnout, and compassion satisfaction. …

The Relationship And Effects Of Mindfulness On Comfort, Work Satisfaction, And Burnout Among Nurses Who Provide Direct Patient Care, Pamela Lichtenberg Heard

Dissertations

This study proposed to examine the problem of burnout in the nursing profession and ways to ameliorate burnout. Many burnout studies in the past focused on the problem and possible solutions that managers and/or hospital administrators could incorporate into their organization. The focus of this study is to evaluate ways that nurses can decrease their own propensity to burnout through the use of mindfulness. Therefore, this study examined burnout in a non-traditional manner. It is not assumed that others must assist nurses with decreasing their levels of burnout. Mindfulness is a means by which nurses can empower themselves to combat …

Development Of An Evidence-Based Program To Address Burnout And Resilience In Nursing, Heather Zink

Doctoral Dissertations & Projects

Abstract

Problem: Public health nurses at a county health department are experiencing burnout because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: The purpose of this program development project was to address burnout in public health nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic through assessment and recommended resilience interventions.

Methods: Two survey tools to measure burnout and resilience were distributed to 70 public health nurses. A literature review using the Wiederman framework for battling burnout and building resilience guided the development of the resilience toolkit.

Intervention: A resilience toolkit consisting of evidence-based interventions, budgets, assessment tools, an example plan, and posters was developed for the …