Remon Aldren R, Lacanaria Mary Grace C
Saint Louis University - School of Advanced Studies, Baguio City, Philippines.
Saint Louis University - Sacred Heart Medical Center, Baguio City, Philippines.
Acta Med Philipp. 2023 Nov 24;57(11):51-65. doi: 10.47895/amp.vi0.5818. eCollection 2023.
The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic significantly disrupted regular health care services, mainly in the hospitals. Nurses soldiering on the battlefront of care of disaster response in the Philippines during the disease outbreak are at high risk of developing rapid-onset compassion fatigue. Notably, research is still needed to investigate the impact of compassion fatigue on various clinical areas and further develop a theory of compassion fatigue within the nursing context.
The study explored the concept of compassion as experienced by nurses directly caring for COVID-19 patients. The study further explored the experiences of nurses on compassion fatigue.
This study employed qualitative methodology, specifically the constructivist grounded theory.
Thirty-four participants were included in the study. The narratives and voices of the nurses unfolded the following themes: (1) Acts of Compassion, (2) COVID-19 Pandemic: Nursing Challenges and Detours, (3) Nurses' Compassion Fatigue, (4) Narratives of Opportunities: Thriving at the outset of COVID-19. All four concepts are linked to the multidimensional concept of compassion fatigue. A substantive theory, "Remon's CF Theory in Nursing," is proposed based on the grounded experiences of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients related to compassion fatigue.
Compassion Fatigue (CF) is a psycho-social phenomenon and occupational hazard affecting nurses directly caring for or in contact with COVID-19 patients. CF is a process that develops over time brought by prolonged enactment of compassion, the experience of empathic distress, and concurrence of organizational, contextual, and psychosocial factors. Nurses' CF can potentially affect safety and lead to poor nursing care, compromised work relations, and burnout. Nurse leaders' organizational and leadership commitment and support through up-to-date policies and continuous research on the topic are necessary to regain compassion among nurses. Likewise, reframing nurse compassion fatigue as an organizational and collective problem provides the larger perspective to further improve clinical practice and nurses' welfare.
Nurse leaders, hospital and COVID-19 facility administrators must ensure specific policies and priorities that address issues causing and fueling nurse compassion fatigue, including frequency of exposure to traumatic events, lack of resources, and inadequate support system. The study further suggests conducting quantitative research to test the proposed theory and explore the relationship between organizational, psychosocial, and environmental context, compassion fatigue, and compassion-driven factors.
冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行严重扰乱了常规医疗服务，主要是在医院。在菲律宾疾病爆发期间奋战在灾难应对护理前线的护士极易迅速产生同情疲劳。值得注意的是，仍需开展研究以调查同情疲劳对各个临床领域的影响，并在护理背景下进一步发展同情疲劳理论。
本研究探讨了直接护理COVID-19患者的护士所体验到的同情概念。该研究还进一步探究了护士在同情疲劳方面的经历。
本研究采用定性方法，具体为建构主义扎根理论。
34名参与者纳入了本研究。护士们的叙述和声音展现了以下主题：（1）同情行为，（2）COVID-19大流行：护理挑战与弯路，（3）护士的同情疲劳，（4）机遇叙述：在COVID-19初期蓬勃发展。所有这四个概念都与同情疲劳的多维概念相关联。基于护理COVID-19患者的护士在同情疲劳方面的实际经历，提出了一个实质性理论，即“雷蒙护理同情疲劳理论”。
同情疲劳（CF）是一种心理社会现象和职业危害，影响着直接护理或接触COVID-19患者的护士。CF是一个随着时间推移而发展的过程，由长期表现出同情、共情困扰的经历以及组织、环境和心理社会因素的共同作用所导致。护士的CF可能会影响安全，并导致护理质量不佳、工作关系受损和职业倦怠。护士领导者通过制定最新政策和持续开展该主题研究来做出组织和领导承诺并提供支持，对于恢复护士的同情心是必要的。同样，将护士同情疲劳重新界定为一个组织性和集体性问题，能提供更宏观的视角，以进一步改善临床实践和护士福利。
护士领导者、医院及COVID-19设施管理人员必须确保制定具体政策和优先事项，以解决导致并加剧护士同情疲劳的问题，包括接触创伤性事件的频率、资源短缺以及支持系统不足等。该研究还建议开展定量研究，以检验所提出的理论，并探索组织、心理社会和环境背景、同情疲劳以及同情驱动因素之间的关系。
