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Compassion Fatigue among Healthcare, Emergency and Community Service Workers: A Systematic Review
Citation
Cocker, F and Joss, N, Compassion Fatigue among Healthcare, Emergency and Community Service Workers: A Systematic Review, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13, (6) pp. 1-18. ISSN 1661-7827 (2016) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2016 The Authors Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
DOI: doi:10.3390/ijerph13060618
Abstract
Compassion fatigue (CF) is stress resulting from exposure to a traumatized individual.
CF has been described as the convergence of secondary traumatic stress (STS) and cumulative
burnout (BO), a state of physical and mental exhaustion caused by a depleted ability to cope with
one’s everyday environment. Professionals regularly exposed to the traumatic experiences of the
people they service, such as healthcare, emergency and community service workers, are particularly
susceptible to developing CF. This can impact standards of patient care, relationships with colleagues,
or lead to more serious mental health conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD),
anxiety or depression. A systematic review of the effectiveness of interventions to reduce CF in
healthcare, emergency and community service workers was conducted. Thirteen relevant studies
were identified, the majority of which were conducted on nurses (n = 10). Three included studies
focused on community service workers (social workers, disability sector workers), while no studies
targeting emergency service workers were identified. Seven studies reported a significant difference
post-intervention in BO (n = 4) or STS (n = 3). This review revealed that evidence of the effectiveness
of CF interventions in at-risk health and social care professions is relatively recent. Therefore, we
recommend more research to determine how best to protect vulnerable workers at work to prevent not
only CF, but also the health and economic consequences related to the ensuing, and more disabling,
physical and mental health outcomes.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | compassion fatigue, secondary trauma, interventions, risk factors, health, emergency, community service workers |
| Research Division: | Medical and Health Sciences |
| Research Group: | Public Health and Health Services |
| Research Field: | Health Promotion |
| Objective Division: | Health |
| Objective Group: | Specific Population Health (excl. Indigenous Health) |
| Objective Field: | Occupational Health |
| Author: | Cocker, F (Dr Fiona Cocker) |
| ID Code: | 119881 |
| Year Published: | 2016 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 1 |
| Deposited By: | Medicine (Discipline) |
| Deposited On: | 2017-08-07 |
| Last Modified: | 2017-10-17 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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