Compassion Fatigue and Trauma Nursing

Statement of Problem Trauma nurses are at an increased risk of developing compassion fatigue from working in a high stress environment with at times undesirable patient outcomes. This type of nursing has increase and the stress that comes along with it can put a nurse at risk for psychiatric issues and or nurses leaving this particular type of nursing or nursing all together. No prior studies have focused on if there is a correlation between compassion fatigue and exposure to different types of trauma. Sources of Data Data was collected from a convenience sample of Registered Nurses at a large metropolitan hospital in the greater San Diego, CA area from the Surgical ICU and trauma bay. Students completed a demographic survey and the ProQOL V.5 (Stamm, 2010). Conclusions Reached There was no statistical significance of a relationship between having compassion fatigue and caring for patients affected by different types of trauma.