SPECIAL SESSION: Compassion Practice: New Insights into Compassion Fatigue and Compassion Satisfaction

Description/Overview: For a term that only emerged in the early 1990’s, a tremendous amount of research has been done on compassion fatigue, but authors continue to state that there is a lack of conceptual clarity about compassion fatigue and at best a relatively preliminary understanding of the concept. According to some authors the lack of conceptual clarity of compassion fatigue has hindered measurement and empirical study of the term. This is the case because current instruments fail to clearly reflect the concepts of compassion and fatigue and the few validation studies yielded limited information about the psychometric properties of these instruments. However, the last decade has witnessed a marked growth in the field, providing ample evidence to demonstrate the validity of the term compassion fatigue and the fact that it is not interrelated with other similar occupational stress outcomes. Additionally, there has been a spotlight on compassion among various Departments of Health across the globe which has led to an efflux of research on compassion, providing a clearer understanding of the practice of compassion and of the term compassion fatigue. Furthermore, scientific breakthroughs in the field of social neuroscience, provide insight into the neural processes underlying empathy and compassion. This session will focus on the career development of an early career scientist – the challenges, choices and opportunities. The individual’s program of research will be presented and substantive contributions to the field of compassion practice will be highlighted. Topics that will be discussed include the definition of compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction, a theoretical model of compassion practice based on Conservation of Resources (COR) theory and social neuroscientists’ study of empathy, and the development of the compassion practice instrument. The body of research provides an understanding of the development of either compassion fatigue or compassion satisfaction, and demonstrates that it is not empathy that puts nurses at risk for developing compassion fatigue, but rather a lack of resources; a lack of positive feedback and the nurse’s response to personal distress. Research in compassion practice holds promise for the nursing profession showing that a positive practice environment, resource replacement initiatives and positive feedback could prevent the development of compassion fatigue in nurses. Finally with compassion-related training and education, nurses should be able to reduce personal distress and apply greater empathy towards patients.