Abstract

Compassion fatigue, defined as the physical and mental exhaustion experienced by those who care for sick or traumatized people over an extended time-period (Merriam-Webster, 2019; Berg, et. al., 2016), has emerged as a leading concern for healthcare professionals and organizations locally, nationally, and globally. It negatively impacts personal and professional relationships, physical and mental health, personal and professional performance, as well as standards of patient care. Approximately 16% to 85% of the healthcare workforce suffers from compassion fatigue, putting them at increased risk for poor personal and professional judgment, reduced job satisfaction, increased turnover, and costs the economy billions of dollars each year. Protection against compassion fatigue requires that both the individual and the organization learn how to prevent, identify, address, and monitor for compassion fatigue. Provision of compassion fatigue mitigation strategies important leadership functions as leaders are one of the most significant driving forces for building personal resilience, supporting well-being, and supporting joy in the work environment.

Peggy Bradley

Author Details

Peggy Bradley, DNP, FNP-C

Sigma Membership

Non-member

Lead Author Affiliation

Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

Type

DNP Capstone Project

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Quality Improvement

Research Approach

Translational Research/Evidence-based Practice

Keywords:

Compassion Fatigue, Leadership, Nurse Leaders, Compassion Fatigue Prevention

Advisor

Gould, Kimberly

Second Advisor

Shenefield, Diana

Degree

DNP

Degree Grantor

Northern Arizona University

Degree Year

2021

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Self-submission

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