Department of Nursing and Midwifery

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Browsing Department of Nursing and Midwifery by browse.metadata.advisor "Baron, Justine"

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    Compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and intention to leave among critical care nurses in private hospitals of the Cape Metropole
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) Shelton, Jamie Lee; Van der Heever, Mariana; Baron, Justine; Crowley, Talitha; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dept. of Nursing & Midwifery.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY: Background: Global studies have found that compassion fatigue is a problem among critical care nurses, causing them to lose empathy and compassion for their patients and, moreover, to leave the profession. Since nurse recruitment and retention rates are already low in South Africa, compassion fatigue could have particularly serious consequences. This study investigated the levels of and relationships between compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and intention to leave among critical care nurses in private hospitals in the Cape Metropole, South Africa. Methods: The study was conducted using a quantitative research approach with a cross-sectional descriptive correlational design. Critical care nurses were recruited through Facebook advertising and n=78 nurses completed the online survey. Our survey used a custom demographic and intention to leave scale in addition to the established Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) instrument. The demographic, intention to leave, and ProQOL variables were described and visualized using descriptive statistics. The direction and strength of the relationships between variables were examined using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Ethical principles of autonomy, privacy, confidentiality, justice, beneficence, and nonmaleficence were maintained throughout the study. Results: The findings showed that the nurses experienced average levels of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. Compassion satisfaction and burnout had a strong negative correlation (r=-0.761, p<0.01). Likewise, compassion satisfaction and secondary traumatic stress had a moderate negative correlation (r=-0.539, p<0.01). Secondary traumatic stress and burnout had a strong positive correlation (r=0.743, p<0.01). Males scored significantly lower on compassion satisfaction (mean=38.6, SD=3.7) than females (mean=50.5, SD=9.9) (t=2.056, p=0.04). The mean scores of compassion satisfaction (t=-0.993, p=0.38), burnout (t=0.706, p=0.48), and secondary traumatic stress (t=1.249, p=0.22) did not differ between participants with or without a postgraduate critical care nursing diploma. However, nurses who were critical care trained had slightly higher compassion satisfaction mean scores (mean=51.1, SD=10.3) compared to nurses who were not critical care trained (mean 49.0, SD=9.7). Almost half of the nurses in the study expressed an intention to leave nursing (42.3%, n=33). Burnout was moderately positively correlated with intention to leave (r=0.633, p<0.01) and secondary traumatic stress (r=0.438, p<0.01), while compassion satisfaction was moderately negatively correlated with intention to leave (r=-0.615, p<0.01). Conclusion: Burnout and secondary traumatic stress were among the physical, mental, and emotional stresses critical care nurses experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, despite the reported burnout and secondary traumatic stress, nurses still reported average levels of compassion satisfaction. Recommendations: The work environments of critical care nurses must be improved to prevent compassion fatigue, prevent nurse attrition, and assist them in finding fulfilment at work. Support and assistance should be provided to younger and less experienced critical care nurses as they grow in their careers to prevent anxiety and burnout, and postgraduate training should be encouraged to improve clinical competence and critical care knowledge. Compassion fatigue needs to be identified and combated by nurses and healthcare organizations to protect nurses and the nursing profession.