High acuity & med-surg unit compassion fatigue, satisfaction, and burnout

Friday, April 24, 2015
Geoff Shuster, RN, PhD , college of nursing, university of New Mexico, albuquerque, NM
Eric Hensen, BSN , University of New Mexico College of Nursing, albuquerque, NM
Cindy Hoang, BSN , College of Nursing, University of New Mexico, albuequerque, NM
Helen Nguyen, bsn , College of Nursing, University of New Mexico, albuquerque, NM
Karina Nunez, BSN , College of Nursing, University of New Mexico, albuquerque, NM
  Background. Nursing is a caring, compassionate profession and these characteristics plus professional knowledge and skill are associated with good patient care as well as hospital patient satisfaction.  Conversely, high levels of burnout and work related stress are associated with poorer patient care and lower hospital patient satisfaction.  The Professional Quality of Life scale (ProQOL) is a standardized instrument   measuring three discrete dimensions associated with nursing practice: Compassion Satisfaction,   Burnout, and Compassion Fatigue (Stamm,  2005).

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to measure the level of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue among high acuity and medical surgical units in a level one trauma hospital and to compare these results with published results from a level two trauma hospital using standardized low, medium and high levels cutoffs.  

Methods. Demographic and ProQOL data were collected from a cross sectional convenience sample of 5 units (N=48) following approval from human subjects review.  Surveys were anonymous.  Data were entered into SPSS 22 and analyzed for results

Results. .   Results from this study were compared with the Hooper et al. 2010 study.  Space here prevents detailed comparisons but they will be presented at WIN. This study sample had 22 medical surgical and 26 high acuity unit participants.  Eighty percent of the high acuity unit staff were female compared to 63% of the medical surgical unit; while a third of the high acuity unit staff were under 30   compared with 50% of the medical surgical units.  Day night shift responses were about even for both groups while 75% of the medical surgical staff had worked for four or less years compared with a little more than half the high acuity staff.  Due to sample size and data distribution Mann Whitney U was used to compare high acuity and medical surgical unit results.  There were no significant differences between the two types of units on any of the three dimensions; or between day and night shift; male compared with female, and time on the unit.   Thirty percent of the high acuity and 50% of the medical surgical group had high compassion satisfaction levels while 25% of each had high satisfaction fatigue levels.  While high levels of burnout were similar across all groups, including those in the Hooper 2010 study, the level 1 trauma hospital high acuity units had 20% more moderate burnout scores at 75% of the sample. The level 1 trauma medical surgical unit satisfaction high level score was almost twice every other unit in both studies while moderate scores were similar across all units in both studies.

 Implications. Stamm (2005) indicates high satisfaction and high fatigue are common in both types of units, high compassion fatigue scores for both level 1 trauma hospital units were 80%. High burnout scores are a more serious concern and can impact patient care and nursing staff retention:  Results of this study and the Hooper et al. 2010 study suggest a systematic means of identifying, supporting and counseling may help retention and improve hospital nursing patient care.

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