challenged by compassion: an exploration of the lived experience of compassion fatigue among canadian nurses who worked during covid-19
abstract
the experience of compassion fatigue is a serious challenge within caregiving
professions. scholars agree that although the symptoms of compassion fatigue are similar to
burnout and secondary stress disorder, there is no agreement on what distinguishes compassion
fatigue from similar experiences. the terms compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress
disorder, and burnout have been used interchangeably in the literature. the aim of this research
was to develop a theoretical understanding of compassion fatigue, its process, and its relationship
with compassion, which can inform nursing research and education.
this research is a grounded theory investigation into the relationship between lived
experience of compassion fatigue, patient engagement styles, and their knowledge of and attitude
towards compassion among direct care nurses who worked during the covid-19 pandemic in
canada. as part of this study, an anonymous survey among direct care nursing professionals
from different parts of canada functioned as the participant recruitment platform for the
subsequent grounded theory interviews. the main inclusion criteria were specified as the nurses’
who experienced of compassion fatigue any time during their career and who worked or are
working during covid-19. the principal methodology of this is the grounded theory approach
of gioia et al. (2013), located within the constructivist paradigm of charmaz (2006). as the main
part of the data collection process, in-depth interviews were done with 27 direct care nurses from
different parts of the country; the majority came from the provinces of ontario, alberta, and
british columbia. the preliminary literature review and anonymous survey data indirectly
informed the formulation of the research problem and questions and contributed towards cross
checking of the emergent grounded theory model and other findings. [...]