Understanding the Prevalence of Compassion Fatigue, Compassion Satisfaction, and Resilience

Christina OConnell, University of New Mexico

Abstract

Compassion fatigue (CF), its components of burnout (BO) and secondary traumatic stress (STS), and compassion satisfaction (CS) affect healthcare providers and staff and can dramatically influence patient care and access to primary care services. Resilience is a tool which serves as a protective factor that can mitigate CF and enhance CS. There is a gap in research regarding the relationship between compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and resilience among primary care providers and frontline staff. Additionally, the current COVID-19 pandemic has revealed healthcare’s deficits related to staff and provider burnout, a myriad of workforce safety issues, disparities in care, and a discouraged workforce. The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic will take years to heal but, adopting protective resilience efforts can heal the trauma and exhaustion that it has inflicted. This study evaluated responses from multiple primary care clinics within the same academic medical center in New Mexico and utilized the Professional Quality of Life 5 (ProQOL 5) tool, the Resilience Scale-14 (RS-14) tool, and a demographics survey. Significant findings of this study showed that the majority of individuals experienced moderate levels of CS (59%) and BO (53%) as well as high levels of resilience (48%). There was a positive correlation between the years an individual spent at their clinic and CS. Another significant finding was that females reported higher levels of CS than males. Of utmost importance, there was a significant positive correlation between CS and resilience and a significant negative correlation between BO, STS, and resilience.