Compassion Satisfaction and Compassion Fatigue among Oncology Nurses

Abstract

This descriptive comparative study examined compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue among nurses who provided palliative care for patients with cancer. A purposive sampling of 162 nurses was recruited for this study. Data were collected by using a ProQOL translated into Thai version by the researchers. The research instruments consist of compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue questionnaires. Compassion fatigue questionnaire comprises burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Independent t-test, and Mann-Whitney U-test.

The findings showed that compassion satisfaction was at a moderate level (X̅ = 36.27 ± 6.95). Compassion fatigue regarding burnout was at a low level (X̅= 19.83 ± 5.75) and secondary traumatic stress was at a moderate level (X̅ = 23.49 ± 4.96). The majority of participants had compassion satisfaction at a high level.  Also, 70.37% and 53.70% of participants had burn out and secondary traumatic stress at a low and moderate level respectively. On a whole, nurses who had different personal backgrounds had no differences in their compassion satisfaction. Significant differences in compassion fatigue were found between nurses in IPD and OPD. Nurses who were working in IPD had burn out and secondary traumatic stress higher than those in the OPD (p < .05). In conclusion, oncology nurses had compassion satisfaction in taking care of the patients with cancer. Nurses who worked in IPD and OPD had different compassion fatigue. Nursing organization should aware of nurses’ compassion fatigue and help improve their professional quality of life.