The Presence of Compassion Fatigue in the Private Practice Setting

Nurses play an intricate role in healthcare and may carry a burden while providing patient care. Bearing this burden could lead to a significant level of stress, which in turn could cause compassion fatigue. Many nurses face issues of stress and fatigue during their daily nursing practice, lending to unsafe conditions for patients and a decrease in quality of life. The purpose of this study was to assess nurses’ perception of the presence of compassion fatigue for nurses working in the private practice setting. This quantitative study, guided by the Neuman Systems Model, consisted of a non-randomized convenience sample of 15 nurses at a private neurology practice. The measurement tool used for the study was the Professional Quality of Life, Version 5 (ProQOL V5), consisting of 30 questions on a 5-point Likert scale. The ProQOL V5 includes three subscales: compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. The burnout and secondary traumatic stress subscales combine to form compassion fatigue; therefore, the data analysis was focused on questions related to burnout and secondary traumatic stress. One sample t-test portrayed minimal difference between the responses to the questions about burnout (M = 48.27, SD = 6.724, p = .335) and secondary traumatic stress (M = 47.00, SD = 8.552, p = .196) when compared to previous responses from the ProQOL V5 questionnaire measuring compassion fatigue (M = 50, SD = 10). Findings from the study indicated that although compassion fatigue, consisting of the subscales burnout and secondary traumatic stress, was present in the private practice setting, there was minimal difference in the prevalence of compassion fatigue in the private practice setting compared to other healthcare settings