Compassion Fatigue Research Paper

Compassion Fatigue has been of increasing interest for healthcare institutions for many years (Stamm, 2002). The interest on this topic has grown over the past decade due to the correlation that has been identified and supported between burnout and increased turnover among healthcare workers (Jenkins & Baird, S., 2002). A 2009 study identified that nurses with high levels of Compassion Fatigue also have high levels of Burnout (Hooper, Craig, Janvrin, Wetsel & Reimels, 2009). Additionally, for every nurse that vacates their position, the estimated cost to replace their position ranges from $22,000 to $64,000 (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2009). Organizations also must pay approximately $10,000 to recruit each new nurse that they hire (Saunders & Reyes, 2014). …show more content…
Although Compassion Fatigue can be described as a type of burnout; the onset of compassion fatigue is somewhat different than the onset of burnout (Hunsaker, Chen, Maughan, & Heaston, 2015). While Compassion Fatigue results from giving high levels of emotional energy over prolonged periods of time and is caused by empathy, it occurs suddenly (Figley, 1995). Burnout is not related to empathy but is caused by environmental factors such as problematic leadership, staffing shortages, and extremely high patient acuity and its onset is gradual (Hunsaker et al., 2015). The effects of burnout cause nurses to feel overwhelmed, helpless, and as though they are unable to perform their job duties (Stamm,