Compassion fatigue among nurses working in a long‐term care facility: The Israeli experience

Abstract

Nurses working in a long-term care facility could be at risk of developing compassion fatigue due to the nature of their work. In this descriptive, cross-sectional survey, we explored the level of compassion fatigue among nurses working in a long-term care facility, as well as the associated sociodemographic and occupational factors. In total, 103 nurses employed in various departments of a long-term care facility in central Israel completed the Hebrew version of the Professional Quality of Life Scale R-IV. Nurses scored moderate-high on the compassion fatigue (mean = 3.6, standard deviation = .5), burnout (mean = 3.5, standard deviation = .5), and compassion satisfaction (mean = 3.8, standard deviation = .5) scales. Older nurses scored lower on compassion fatigue, while nurses with higher qualifications scored higher on compassion satisfaction. In this study, we implicate that it is necessary to raise awareness about compassion fatigue, both in nursing education and training and in long-term care organizations. It is necessary to improve understanding of this phenomenon in order to help nurses acquire appropriate coping skills to address this critical issue.