Compassion fatigue in community nursing: what is it, who is susceptible, and what can be done?

COMMUNITY health nurses; PROFESSIONAL ethics; MINDFULNESS; WELL-being; EMPATHY; SELF-perception; WORK-life balance; RISK assessment; NURSE-patient relationships; SOCIAL boundaries; SECONDARY traumatic stress; INDUSTRIAL hygiene; PSYCHOLOGICAL resilience

Community nurses are at particular risk to compassion fatigue because their role attracts people who are compelled to help others, and because the work is emotionally challenging. This article explores the various ways in which compassion fatigue affects work and personal life, highlights three factors that make someone susceptible to it and provides recommendations on how to protect oneself from compassion fatigue. The authors also refer to their own research on super-helper syndrome to elucidate the understanding of what contributes to compassion fatigue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]