Compassion fatigue in emergency medical services (EMS):
Item Description
The influence of self-care on compassion fatigue among EMS Professionals in Northwestern Pennsylvania
Linked Agent
Author: Martin, Kelly
Thesis advisor: Astorino, Terri
Committee member: Hedderick, Victoria
Committee member: Schaefer, Julie
Degree granting institution: Clarion University of Pennsylvania
Degree granting institution: Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
Degree name: Doctor of Nursing Practice
Department: Nursing
Date Created
2018
Date Issued
2018
Abstract
Compassion fatigue, also known as secondary traumatic stress disorder, results from repeated exposure to the suffering of others, eventually exhausting his or her ability to show compassion. Self-care has been suggested as a potential preventative or treatment strategy in compassion fatigue however there has been limited documentation to validate this relationship. This study utilized a non-experimental, descriptive correlational design in order to determine if EMS professionals in Northwestern Pennsylvania, who practice self-care, experience less compassion fatigue than those who do not. A survey which was comprised of The Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) scale, a validated tool for assessing compassion fatigue by evaluating secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and compassion satisfaction, as well as the Health Promotion Lifestyle Profile (HPLP) II, a tool to evaluate health promotion/self-care, was completed by 164 EMS professionals in Northwestern Pennsylvania. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was utilized to determine the relationship between self-care and compassion fatigue. The results demonstrated a negative correlation between self-care and burnout (p<.000), a negative correlation between self-care and secondary traumatic stress (p<.000), and a positive correlation between self-care and compassion satisfaction (p<.000), suggesting lower levels of compassion fatigue in those who practice self-care. These findings suggest that the implementation of self-care may result in decreased compassion fatigue, improving the EMS professional’s quality of life as well as patient outcomes.
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pdf
86 pages
3 MB
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Rights
Martin, K. (2018). Compassion fatigue in emergency medical services (EMS): The influence of self-care on compassion fatigue among EMS Professionals in Northwestern Pennsylvania. Edinboro and Clarion Universities of Pennsylvania.
Accessed from Pennsylvania Western University Archives.
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