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Did you know?
“Compassion fatigue is a broadly defined concept that can include emotional, physical and spiritual distress in those providing care to another. It is associated with caregiving where people or animals are experiencing significant emotional or physical pain and suffering.” –
Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project
Compassion fatigue is a form of burnout. It essentially is one step beyond burnout. You are mentally exhausted from caring for others. It is commonly seen in the healthcare profession.
Symptoms of compassion fatigue:
· Feeling burdened by the suffering of others
· Blaming others for their suffering
· Isolating yourself
· Loss of pleasure in life
· Difficulty concentrating
· Insomnia
· Physical and mental fatigue
· Bottling up your emotions
· Increased nightmares
· Feelings of hopelessness or powerlessness
· Frequent complaining about your work or your life
· Overeating
· Excessive use of drugs or alcohol
· Poor self-care
· Beginning to receive a lot of complaints about your work or attitude
· Denial
What causes compassion fatigue?
It’s simple really. Being exposed to a high amount of physical and mental stress. Constantly caring for others and not caring for yourself. With Covid the healthcare profession is bound to experience higher levels of Compassion Fatigue.
There is hardly any data on Compassion Fatigue. However, one survey found that 54% of office-based physicians had experienced a time where they felt they no longer had any compassion left to give, even after rest.
Where do you fall on the compassion fatigue scale?
*I do not own the rights to this questionnaire. It is from the Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project. Please feel free to print out and share.*
If you score high on the scale, no need to worry. Like burnout, compassion fatigue is not terminal. The best way to overcome it is to first be aware of what is happening. Psychology Today says Dr. Stramm recommends the following:
· Enhance your awareness with education.
· Accept where you are on your path at all times.
· Exchange information and feelings with people who can validate you.
· Clarify your personal boundaries – what works for you and what doesn’t.
· Be kind to yourself.
· Express what you need verbally.
· Take positive action to change your environment (leave that toxic clinic!)
How can you recover from Compassion Fatigue?
Take a break - Not like a week, but entire career.
Speak to a counselor or therapist - Not just family or friends. You need an unbiased person.
Self-care - do things you love.
· Work in a different field altogether - Remind yourself why you loved veterinary medicine so much.
· Find a hobby - Find something to do that will take your mind off of stressful situations.
What is Compassion Fatigue to a Vet Nurse?
All aspects of our field can experience burnout. You may have only heard of it with Veterinarians, but we are just as susceptible. On our Instagram account we asked what Compassion Fatigue is to them, and these were their responses:
I think it depends on the person. It can vary to super emotional to not caring for the patients.
When you get in your car after work and just cry.
Showing so much compassion, that I am no longer caring for my own personal needs.
Feeling stuck and unsure where to go.
Not being able to empathize with clients anymore, jumping to judgement.
Crying and not even realizing you just broke down.
Having a panic attack in the clinic restroom and then taking a room 5 minutes later.
It was trauma for my mind and body. Felt like PTSD. Followed me home it tortured my mind at home.
Sitting on the kitchen floor crying when you get home.
When disaster and pain stops affecting you; until there's only one glove left in the box.
Hamster wheel like anxiety thoughts. Mind/body stress that follows you home.
Owners who you can't get through to.
Having to fake it at work (smiling, laughing, showing empathy). Then going home like and empty shell.
When you run out of kind words for even your most favorite clients.
Lack of empathy.
Feeling numb even to the sad cases.
Working 13 hours and counting currently because you can't leave your team struggling.
(New tech, in the process of school) doctors making you cry for trying to learn/ask questions.
Help from anyone, not getting a break and not feeling valued as a tech.
I felt myself getting angry at the scared animal, like really angry. The anger came from not gettin
Managing. Never being able to make anyone happy. But still coming in everyday.
Continuing to work so much because you think they "need" you, and you miss out on putting your kiddo to bed because the guilt of the animals and coworkers.
Call after call of new clients scheduling because covid adoptions are out of control.
That's when I knew something wasn't right.
Wanting to get a euthanasia over with and getting annoyed with clients that won't stop crying.
Feeling dead inside, like you just have no more shits to give.
Crying on the floor from seeing too many euthanasias that could have been avoided.
Spending 15 minutes in bed in absolute dread that you have to go through another day at work.
My brain would just be so overloaded that I couldn't talk to anyone, even my significant other.
A 20 minute car ride home after a long day in absolute silence crying.
Apathy.
Hearing CPR first thing while punching in.
Being told "you look tired" or "you look sick" everyday by coworkers. No, I'm burnt-out.
Administration of treatments like an assembly line.
The feeling of no feeling. You'll only understand that if you've been there.
Spacing out while doing treatments, not wanting to go to work the list goes on.
Being annoyed to have a cute puppy exam because puppies mean over stimulation.
When you start to view death as a completely normal and frequent occurrence.
When I am so busy, and I just want to get things done and feel almost zero empathy for patients.
When you can no longer feel empathetic towards clients nor patients.
I feel like a lot of people use the term "CP" when they really mean ethics exhaustion.
Being told you need to smile more, I'm just trying to hide the emotions of working full time, going to school.
When you walk in the morning and someone says hi and you immediately want to leave.
Letting management mistreat and disrespect me which lead to losing my passion for this job.
Apathy, easily irritated, no interest in learning anymore, and not eating properly.
Coming home and not being able to connect with my family because work emotionally drained me.
Being worn short and hating work for a long period of time.
So mentally exhausted I can't even show compassion to myself. Takes too much energy.
Yes, you need discernment.
Not caring when a patient dies because it's one less for the caseload.
Being pissed off at every patient for inconveniencing me.
Not feeling empathy for clients anymore.
Getting irritated by the phone ringing.
Getting irritated just by walking through the clinic doors to start your shift.
I was in a daze all the time.
I don't remember the last time I cried about a dead animal. It's been years.
Worrying about patients when I leave the hospital.
For me, it was sitting in my car for 30 minutes, building up the strength to go in the building.
Euth after euth after euth after QOL talk after euth.
"Needing" time away but being able to take it, coworkers judging, short-staffed, etc.
How can I have this hate and being tired and want to leave this field if I also love it so much. Too much.
Having no compassion towards clients with no money.
Vet student/nurse here - so tired. Want to leave this profession but I still love it. I don't know, maybe I need a big pause.
Working until you're over 36 weeks pregnant because you don't want to leave the clinic short staffed.
Tired of being over strained by management because they know you will care for the patients.
Burnout from doing something you love.
Not giving a F about anyone or anything at work.
It seems like how a person who is tired of giving feels.
When asked if people have experienced Compassion Fatigue these were the results:
Yes 452 votes
No 17 votes
1,974 people viewed this poll of my 16,000 followers.
*All comments are from our followers. No names mentioned for privacy purposes*
Compassion fatigue in Veterinary Medicine is real. It is happening in all aspects of your clinic. If we don't do something about it now, we won't have people to take care of our pets in the future. I encourage you to talk to your staff. Ask how they are doing. Make sure they are ok. Don't just act like you give a damn, ACTUALLY give a damn.
Remember, your clinic is only as good as the way you treat your staff.
Love,
Shena Humbert, LVT
Not Another Vet Nurse
*Sources are listed within the blog.*