HOUSTON (May 12, 2020) – Franklin Wynn, MSN, RN, CNE, OCN, an adjunct instructor in Prairie View A&M University’s College of Nursing, recently published an article in the International Journal for Human Caring. The article titled “Burnout or Compassion Fatigue? A Comparative Concept Analysis for Nurses Caring for Patients in High-Stakes Environments” is about helping nurses and other health care providers identify the differences and similarities between the terms burnout and compassion fatigue.
The goal is to help nurses working in high-stakes environments, which includes areas where there is a strong potential for life-threatening consequences.
“In health care, we might commonly think of these areas as emergency rooms, intensive care units and areas of oncology, to name a few,” he said. “However, the information in this article can be applied to nurses and health care providers working in almost any area.”
Wynn is hoping to bring an understanding to the thoughts, feelings and emotions nurses commonly experience in their practice, but lack the meaningful understanding to express.
“We are currently seeing in the news, particularly in the reports that are coming out of New York City, where health care providers on the frontline are experiencing great stress,” he said. “This article helps to place some of these feelings into context.”
One of the main areas of focus in the article is burnout, which Wynn defines as a state of physical or mental exhaustion that results from stress in the workplace; Coping helps to overcome it.
“In this context, the coping aspect typically includes removal of the stressor, such as a period of rest, time-off, reassignment, etc.,” he said. “Typically, burnout is an experience felt out of response from trying to influence, or adapt to, an unfavorable condition of the workplace, such as poor staffing or lack of managerial support,” Wynn said.
The article also delves into compassion fatigue, which is physical and mental exhaustion, caused specifically from caregiving, that leaves individuals feeling drained, without empathy, and without the ability to cope. It starts to present itself when individuals enter a state where they can no longer cope with stress, which leads to conflicts in their ability to empathically care for patients, Wynn explained.
“This can be dangerous because, at this point, nurses have lost their investment to be engaged in care,” he said. “Studies have indicated that nurses in compassion fatigue states are more prone to commit errors and place patients at increased risk for adverse events.”
Wynn’s article also explored other areas outside of health care where these phenomena are common. Burnout is also often seen in law enforcement, social work, education and athletics, which is likely due to the fact that the ability to maintain high-performance expectations is high in these areas. Compassion fatigue, meanwhile, is typically seen in areas where one must provide care or have a role in caring for an individual, such as social workers, mental health practitioners, lawyers and family caregivers.
Wynn was inspired to write this article to help fill a needed gap in literature, as well as bring clarity to the terms of burnout and compassion fatigue.
Franklin Wynn, MSN, RN, CNE, OCN
“I was motivated to write this article to give nurses a voice in advocating for their occupational health and well-being,” he said. “During the times that we are currently living in with the outbreak of COVID-19, we are seeing more and more the vital role that health care providers play, not just in the management of disease, but also in keeping us safe.
As a nurse myself,” he added, “my heart is with many of my colleagues who are showing great courage in caring for patients on the frontline. I believe that when this pandemic has resolved, we will all have a greater understanding of the role of public health. This time should also be a time for others to consider a career in health care, as it is evident by the current pandemic that we need more health care practitioners.”
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By Emilia Benton