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Cited by 269Occupational Health and BurnoutHealthcare professionals’ stress and burnoutStress and Burnout Research

Compassion fatigue in nurses: A metasynthesis

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Nolte, Anna GW, Downing, Charlene, Temane, Annie, Hastings‐Tolsma, Marie·2017·Journal of Clinical Nursing
DOI 10.1111/jocn.13766
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Abstract

Aims and objectives: To interpret the body of qualitative work focusing on compassion fatigue to distil a common understanding that could then be applied to nursing care. Background: Complex demands place extraordinary stress on nurses struggling to work in overburdened healthcare systems. The result can be the inability to care well for others, leading to compassion fatigue, burnout and increased numbers leaving the profession. Metasynthesis offers a means of more fully illuminating compassion fatigue and further understanding of practices which might reduce its negative consequences. Design: Metasynthesis. Method: As a method designed to facilitate knowledge development, metasynthesis allowed for integration of qualitative study findings conducted between 1992–2016 using defined search terms. Six databases were searched for articles published in English. Nine papers met the criteria for review and metasynthesis was conducted using the meta‐ethnographic approach detailed by Noblit and Hare. Results: Four themes related to compassion fatigue were found by consensus discussion. The themes included: physical (“just plain worn out”) and emotional symptoms (“walking on a tightrope”), triggering factors (“an unbearable weight on shoulders” and “alone in a crowded room”), and measures to overcome/prevent (“who has my back?”). Conclusions: Compassion fatigue is a concept of documented relevance to those in nursing and represents a basic inability to nurture others and engenders a temporal component. Synthesis of studies provides evidence of the veracity of the concept for application to clinical practice and research related to nursing care. Relevance to clinical practice: Findings provide insight into the clinical milieu needed to prevent compassion fatigue. A theoretical model is presented which can be used to guide future research, as well as the creation of clinical practice policies which might mitigate the development of compassion fatigue and its potential consequences.

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Authors
Nolte, A. G., Downing, C., Temane, A., & Hastings‐Tolsma, M.
Affiliations
  • University of Johannesburg (ZA)
  • Department of Nursing Science University of Johannesburg Johannesburg South Africa
  • Baylor University (US)
Corresponding author
Nolte, Anna GW
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Clinical Nursing
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2017-04-20
Volume
26
Issue
23-24
Pages
4364-4378
ISSN
  • 0962-1067 (ISSN-L)
  • 1365-2702
DOI
10.1111/jocn.13766
OpenAlex
W2589762062
Cited by
269
References
86
Citations by year
2026: 19 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 36 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 39 · 2021: 48 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 3
FWCI
6.78
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Clinical Nursing (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Burnout
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
Keywords
compassion fatigue, nurses, burnout, nursing workload, emotional exhaustion, physical fatigue, coping strategies, nursing care, nurse retention, occupational stress
MeSH terms
Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, Professional, Empathy, Humans, Nurses, Qualitative Research

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