The work of health professionals is often accompanied by physical and psychological strain as they constantly deal with traumatic situations relating to pain and suffering on a routine basis, which destabilizes their sense of well-being. These strains can often lead to Compassion fatigue, as well as other negative variables, such as burnout and emotional drain resulting in empathic distress; which are often used as a comparative measure of a working professional’s wellbeing. With repeated exposure to painful or traumatic experiences which greatly exceed their capacity to act, health professionals can become emotionally numb, flooded, and self-protective, entering a dysfunctional emotional loop. Thus, with a high level of compassion fatigue, health professionals are focused on providing emotional care but are not able to understand or regulate, their own emotional states. In order to prevent themselves from succumbing to these negative aspects, as well as ensure they succeed in their career, health professionals must improve their emotional intelligence; be able to identify, understand and manage their own emotions and treat themselves with kindness through the exercise of self-compassion. Thus, greater emotional intelligence can be seen to help decrease the level of compassion fatigue, and therefore protect health professionals’ mental health and emotional well-being, and by extension the quality and provision of service within the Health Sector.
This Special Issue will highlight the need for further research investigating the outcomes of promoting positive aspects in healthcare services and healthcare professionals, with the goal of aiding the development of effective and cost-efficient interventions for compassion fatigue. As such, it is important to highlight the cause and overall effect that negative aspects, such as burnout and compassion fatigue have on both healthcare professionals, and the healthcare sector. We will Focus on the multitude of varied implications that compassion fatigue can result in depending on the different healthcare professional roles where it occurs. This approach to compassion fatigue will not only broaden our understanding of the negative aspect but, will also better emphasize the importance of researching and promoting positive aspects which have been seen to benefit both health professionals and the health sector. It is of special interest to highlight the potential for these positive aspects to act as working interventions in order to protect health professionals’ mental health and emotional well-being, and by extension improve the overall provision and quality of the health care sector’s services. To this end, we hope that submissions to this Research topic will aim to answer the following questions and more:
• How might we better define the term "compassion fatigue"?
• Is compassion fatigue the same as empathic distress?
• How do affected professionals perceive the term “compassion fatigue”?
• What are the differences in compassion fatigue in different health professions?
• Do health managers have compassion fatigue?
• Is it compassion that generates practitioner fatigue or the absence of it?
• Is the main cause of compassion fatigue the presence of high levels of suffering?
• Are different levels of compassion fatigue related to self-compassion, presence capacity, or social support?
• Are there effective interventions for reducing compassion fatigue?
• Are there cost-effective interventions for reducing compassion fatigue?
The scope of this Research Topic is intrinsically interested in psychological factors that can affect the work-life of healthcare professionals and the healthcare sector (e.g., hospital, rehabilitation, exercise). As such, we will be highly interested in, but not limiting submissions to:
• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Original Research
• Systematic and Mini Reviews
• Conceptual Analysis
• Policy and Practice Reviews and Policy Briefs.
The work of health professionals is often accompanied by physical and psychological strain as they constantly deal with traumatic situations relating to pain and suffering on a routine basis, which destabilizes their sense of well-being. These strains can often lead to Compassion fatigue, as well as other negative variables, such as burnout and emotional drain resulting in empathic distress; which are often used as a comparative measure of a working professional’s wellbeing. With repeated exposure to painful or traumatic experiences which greatly exceed their capacity to act, health professionals can become emotionally numb, flooded, and self-protective, entering a dysfunctional emotional loop. Thus, with a high level of compassion fatigue, health professionals are focused on providing emotional care but are not able to understand or regulate, their own emotional states. In order to prevent themselves from succumbing to these negative aspects, as well as ensure they succeed in their career, health professionals must improve their emotional intelligence; be able to identify, understand and manage their own emotions and treat themselves with kindness through the exercise of self-compassion. Thus, greater emotional intelligence can be seen to help decrease the level of compassion fatigue, and therefore protect health professionals’ mental health and emotional well-being, and by extension the quality and provision of service within the Health Sector.
This Special Issue will highlight the need for further research investigating the outcomes of promoting positive aspects in healthcare services and healthcare professionals, with the goal of aiding the development of effective and cost-efficient interventions for compassion fatigue. As such, it is important to highlight the cause and overall effect that negative aspects, such as burnout and compassion fatigue have on both healthcare professionals, and the healthcare sector. We will Focus on the multitude of varied implications that compassion fatigue can result in depending on the different healthcare professional roles where it occurs. This approach to compassion fatigue will not only broaden our understanding of the negative aspect but, will also better emphasize the importance of researching and promoting positive aspects which have been seen to benefit both health professionals and the health sector. It is of special interest to highlight the potential for these positive aspects to act as working interventions in order to protect health professionals’ mental health and emotional well-being, and by extension improve the overall provision and quality of the health care sector’s services. To this end, we hope that submissions to this Research topic will aim to answer the following questions and more:
• How might we better define the term "compassion fatigue"?
• Is compassion fatigue the same as empathic distress?
• How do affected professionals perceive the term “compassion fatigue”?
• What are the differences in compassion fatigue in different health professions?
• Do health managers have compassion fatigue?
• Is it compassion that generates practitioner fatigue or the absence of it?
• Is the main cause of compassion fatigue the presence of high levels of suffering?
• Are different levels of compassion fatigue related to self-compassion, presence capacity, or social support?
• Are there effective interventions for reducing compassion fatigue?
• Are there cost-effective interventions for reducing compassion fatigue?
The scope of this Research Topic is intrinsically interested in psychological factors that can affect the work-life of healthcare professionals and the healthcare sector (e.g., hospital, rehabilitation, exercise). As such, we will be highly interested in, but not limiting submissions to:
• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Original Research
• Systematic and Mini Reviews
• Conceptual Analysis
• Policy and Practice Reviews and Policy Briefs.
