{"id":15023,"date":"2019-09-20T02:08:29","date_gmt":"2019-09-20T06:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dbhids2021.wpengine.com\/?p=15023"},"modified":"2021-07-31T13:02:48","modified_gmt":"2021-07-31T17:02:48","slug":"compassion-fatigue-when-caring-for-dying-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthymindsphilly.org\/dev\/blog\/compassion-fatigue-when-caring-for-dying-patients\/","title":{"rendered":"Compassion Fatigue When Caring for Dying Patients"},"content":{"rendered":"

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by Jennifer Forik, MSN, CRNP, ANP-BC<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

When I am asked what I do for a living, I enthusiastically and proudly say, \u201cI\u2019m a palliative care nurse practitioner!\u201d Unfortunately, I usually do not receive the same upbeat response. I usually am told, \u201cOh wow, that\u2019s a tough job\u201d or, \u201cOh, so you care for people at the end of life?\u201d Yes! Isn\u2019t that amazing?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Palliative care is a type of medical care that helps with symptom management from chronic illnesses, and guides discussions around goals of care with patients. This type of decision-making allows the patients to decide on how they would like to proceed with their medical treatment. Sometimes patients decide that hospice care is the best option for them (Hospice care focuses on the <\/span>comfort of a chronically ill, terminally ill or seriously ill patient’s pain and symptoms, while to their emotional and spiritual needs).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, how hard is it to care for people at the end of their life? The answer, in a nutshell? It\u2019s very hard. Nursing is a calling; nurses are passionate about their profession. There have been several times in my career as a palliative care nurse practitioner that I have sat at the bedside of a dying patient and held their hand until they passed, or until family members were able to make it to the bedside. I\u2019ve had to tell patients that there is no more hope, that they are dying. I have cried with patients; I have shared in their anger about their new diagnoses. This is difficult.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I was once told by a wonderful hospice nurse, \u201cYou only get one chance to die.\u201d These words constantly echo in my head. Sometimes the overwhelming pressure of making sure the patient is comfortable can really sit heavy on your soul. There is an emotional burden that nurses carry from simply empathizing with their patients. We almost internalize patients\u2019 emotions – which does, in my opinion, make us better caregivers, but it’s also a truly Herculean task.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As nurses, we often must separate our work from our personal life. As personal as we may take a patient\u2019s death, we must also remember that it\u2019s okay to feel and talk about our emotions and how we are affected by the loss.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mental health for the patients during this critical time is essential. However, what about their nurse who is consumed by death and dying, sometimes multiple times a day, every day? For those of us who are in the helping profession we often feel that we are not doing enough for the people we help, we question our purpose, and feel guilty that at times, we do not have the answers.\u00a0 The emotions at end of life, the empathy, the pressure to make death a peaceful experience – this can all be very overwhelming.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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When it all becomes too much, in the medical field we call this<\/span> compassion fatigue<\/b><\/a>, (sometimes called secondary traumatic stress) which is described as the compounding emotional and physical exhaustion experienced by helping professionals and caregivers exposed to working with those suffering from the consequences of traumatic events. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is usually experienced in nurses more than any other medical profession, but c<\/span>ompassion fatigue and burnout can affect other people, including caregivers, public safety personnel, therapists, social workers, family caregivers and other mental health providers.\u00a0 Although burnout is similar to compassion fatigue,<\/a>\u00a0there are differences. Compassion fatigue and burnout are both a form of stress that can occur anytime, but compassion fatigue usually stems from working with trauma victims whereas burnout happens over a period of time and is normally related to work stress and feeling overworked.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Signs of compassion fatigue include:<\/b><\/p>\n