Cross Country Healthcare recently presented a webinar entitled COVID & Compassion Fatigue, cohosted by Cross Country Healthcare’s Chief Clinical Officer, Hank Drummond, and Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Dean of Nursing, Safiya George, PhD, FAANP. Additional panelists included FAU’s Dean of Nursing, Natalie Bermudez, PhD, RN, PCCN-K; Assistant Professor, Beth King, RN, PhD, PMHCNS-BC; Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Programs, Kay Edwards, DrPH, FNP-BC, FAAN; and Associate Dean of Nursing and Research Scholarships, Pat Liehr, PhD, RN. The panel discussed how chronic exposure to COVID-19 patients may affect nurses, how to recognize compassion fatigue and solutions to combat it.
Webinar panelists presented the following topics: tips and best practices on dealing with compassion fatigue post-COVID; an introduction to compassion satisfaction; compassion fatigue: awareness and coping; PTSD: signs & symptoms; and spotting the signs and lending support to others who have been on the front lines. First, compassion fatigue was defined as being associated with burnout and similar to PTSD and secondary traumatic stress. It is currently recognized as a “cost of caring” that some nurses may unwittingly pay when they are chronically exposed to the fear, pain and suffering of COVID-19 patients. Additional triggers and risk factors, as well as signs and symptoms, were discussed, which can be helpful for healthcare providers who may recognize but be unable to identify compassion fatigue in themselves or others. Finally, a variety of solutions were outlined, including compassion satisfaction, self-compassion and self-34mncare.
The COVID & Compassion Fatigue webinar presentations and discussions were followed by a question and answer session, as well as a closing meditation, which was in effect a live tutorial featuring a breathing technique meant to create a sense of calm and relieve anxiety.
Webinar participants who would like to know more about how to recognize and overcome compassion fatigue were invited to visit the Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project website, a valuable resource for COVID-19 caregivers and their loved ones during these challenging times. Those who are interested can click here to listen to the webinar recording for a comprehensive summarization of the live event.
Don’t Miss Our Next Webinar: Caring for Self: Nurturing Wholeness and Well-Being
Please be sure to join us for our next webinar in this ongoing series: Caring for Self: Nurturing Wholeness and Well-Being, scheduled for June 18 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Click here to preregister.
