Book Description
The purpose of this study was to explore existing literature on the effects of Compassion Fatigue (CF) and Burnout (BO) on the nurse and social work profession and identify effective interventions. Via a review of literature, 25 studies revealed that the lack of awareness of compassion fatigue, working with trauma survivors, constant exposure to people suffering, high caseloads, difficult work schedule, lack of social support and poor self-care were contributing factors to the development of both CF and BO in the nursing and social work practices. This literature review also revealed themes associating self-care practice, such as addressing one's psychological, physical, emotional and spiritual needs and compared its effectiveness in reducing symptoms of compassion fatigue and burnout to the Accelerated Recovery Program. Results of this study revealed that the Accelerated Recovery Program and certain self-care practices were found to be effective in reducing one's symptoms of compassion fatigue (CF) and burnout (BO). Possible implications of this research should concentrate on enhancing the quality of data collection through specific samples to identify the effectiveness of distinct self-care practices addressing CF and BO. Those in the healthcare industry may draw upon the knowledge presented to gain empathy of these factors that increase the risk of CF and BO to implement effective interventions to treat nurses and social workers, thus, improving their quality of care to their patients.
