The big heart that propels people into caregiving or nursing careers also puts them at risk of developing compassion fatigue.
These past few years were not easy for healthcare workers across all settings.
The workforce remains to do ordinary things with extraordinary love. The difficulties and challenges that we face reminds us how fiercely passionate dedicated and committed we are in looking after our older adult population.
During the most arduous and uncertain times, we continued to give the best of what we have, we worked harder and we cared even more.
When a phenomenon like a pandemic ensues, we see an increased level of resilience being displayed as a means of self-protection. While resilience kept the workforce surviving, unknowingly, they were facing a higher risk of an erosion of compassion.
Ironically, caregivers can become so over-empathic that they find themselves growing numb and overwhelmed with the feelings of others. Nurses, caregivers, and other healthcare professionals caring for the elderly feel deep empathy and sympathy when residents experience loneliness, illness, and loss. we have an embedded desire to remove the cause and to bring healing to those who are suffering.
Compassion fatigue or empathy overload can cause burnout, which is associated with too much work, and not enough resources and time to do that work well. Burnout can result in anxiety and depression, physical and emotional fatigue, less enjoyment of work, and more conflict in the workplace and even at home.
Compassion fatigue may appear over time as a person loses sight of maintaining a work-life balance. However, with awareness and self-care strategies, you may return to your normal state of being and feel compassion, satisfaction, and balance. Self-care is the best way to compassion fatigue but is also the most neglected strategy by healthcare workers.
Providing care to one of the most vulnerable populations has always been a privilege, amid a complex and challenging environment.
It is the time to raise the well-being and morale of the aged care workforce so they can connect in a positive workplace climate. We need to focus on nurturing well-being at individual, team, and organisational levels to build a resilient and positive aged care workforce so they continue to do what they do best, to CARE for our older adult population.
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