"Compassion Fatigue" is a Misnomer: How Compassion Can Increase Quality of Life.
Jennifer DeDecker
Creative nursing November 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1891/crnr-d-19-00086 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Humans Stress, psychological Empathy Job satisfaction Burnout, professional Quality of life Adult Middle aged Health personnel Female Surveys and questionnaires Compassion fatigue |
| Key points | Argues that "compassion fatigue" is an outdated misnomer and proposes instead the term "empathic distress leading to empathic distress fatigue," suggesting that contemplative practice, mindfulness, and compassion training can protect and empower health-care providers. |
Abstract
Health-care workers are at risk of experiencing negative consequences for their own health and job performance due to a wide variety of stressors. Care providers suffer from varying expressions of a generalized symptom set that has been termed "burnout" or "compassion fatigue." These terms can help us understand the phenomenon that is happening in our health system, but a strong understanding of the physical, mental, emotional, and psychological implications will increase the efficacy of treatment and benefit of preventive care. This article asserts that the term "compassion fatigue" is a misnomer, resulting in a misunderstanding of the causes and effects of compassion on the individual. This article challenges the term, positing that it has become outdated based on what we now know about the neuroscience of compassion, empathy, and mindfulness. Instead, this discussion offers the relevance of the term "empathic distress leading to empathic distress fatigue," suggesting that contemplative practice, mindfulness, and compassion training can protect and empower health-care providers.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |