{"id":43985,"date":"2016-05-25T08:54:02","date_gmt":"2016-05-25T15:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stage.headlessnauedu-b6hgdzckfdgxgzhe.westus-01.azurewebsites.net\/?p=43985"},"modified":"2016-05-25T13:59:27","modified_gmt":"2016-05-25T20:59:27","slug":"nau-researcher-nurses-can-apply-science-caring-combat-compassion-fatigue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/nau-researcher-nurses-can-apply-science-caring-combat-compassion-fatigue\/","title":{"rendered":"NAU researcher: Nurses can apply science of caring to combat compassion fatigue"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The heart of healthcare is stressed. With longer shifts, staffing shortages and healthcare changes\u00a0taxing our nurses, it&#8217;s no\u00a0surprise that up\u00a0to\u00a080 percent\u00a0report\u00a0suffering compassion fatigue at some point in their careers, according to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gapmedics.com\/blog\/2015\/03\/31\/understanding-compassion-fatigue-in-nursing\/\">recent studies<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>NAU\u2019s <strong>Dorothy Dunn<\/strong>, assistant professor and doctor of nursing<strong><em>, <\/em><\/strong>has been actively researching the <a href=\"http:\/\/internationaljournalforhumancaring.org\/doi\/abs\/10.20467\/1091-5710-18.1.45\">intentionality of compassion energy<\/a>\u2014the converse of compassion fatigue\u2014in order to help nurses balance life and profession.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a family nurse practitioner specializing in gerontology, I asked myself this question: Why is everyone leaving nursing and for those who stay, why are they still here?\u201d Dunn said. \u201cThe answer? Those who stayed have a desire to care for someone compassionately.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dunn explained that nurses will grow and thrive if they understand how to self-generate vigor as compassion energy, preventing compassion fatigue or burnout. The concept\u2014grounded in the theoretical frameworks of Rogers&#8217; Science of Unitary Beings and Watson&#8217;s Caring Theory\u2014incorporates the recognition of human energy fields and how they are mutually affected.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_43987\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-43987\" style=\"width: 195px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stage.headlessnauedu-b6hgdzckfdgxgzhe.westus-01.azurewebsites.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/dunn.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-43987\" src=\"http:\/\/stage.headlessnauedu-b6hgdzckfdgxgzhe.westus-01.azurewebsites.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/dunn.jpg\" alt=\"Dorothy Dunn, assistant professor of Nursing\" width=\"195\" height=\"195\" srcset=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/402\/2016\/05\/dunn.jpg 195w, https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/402\/2016\/05\/dunn-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 195px) 100vw, 195px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-43987\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dorothy Dunn, assistant professor of nursing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Many nurses default to\u00a0putting up emotional walls\u00a0by distancing themselves\u00a0from the perceived vulnerability of suffering. In contrast,\u00a0Dunn&#8217;s research revealed\u00a0when nurses\u00a0engage with patients\u00a0from a place of caring, compassion and presence, the moment becomes energized and focused on meeting the needs of others\u00a0which energizes the nurse.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My research results\u00a0challenged\u00a0the effectiveness of what was being taught in nursing school in the 1980s, such as\u00a0don&#8217;t cry when an infant dies and keep your boundaries up,&#8221; Dunn said. &#8220;In fact, three assumptions emerged that directly oppose the old ways of practicing nursing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Dunn&#8217;s\u00a0assumptions are as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Compassionate presence<\/strong>: Being fully present in the moment with intent to have compassion, not sympathy, pity or altruism, for the other.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pattern nurturance: <\/strong>By<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>truly<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>being in the moment with the patient and\u00a0paying attention to interconnectedness, patterns will emerge. For example, when caring for patients suffering dementia, paying attention to patterns will reveal ways to recognize how to more quickly meet patient needs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Intention to know: <\/strong>By<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>focusing on truly\u00a0getting to know your patient and what<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>matters most to them, nurses\u00a0create\u00a0an energetic exchange that is uplifting and balanced for both the nurse and the patient. For example, many times a psycho-social need is what matters most, as opposed to a medical need. A patient exhibiting\u00a0high blood pressure who did not expect to be admitted to\u00a0a\u00a0hospital\u00a0may worry most about the dog at home that needs to be\u00a0fed. Once the need is recognized and met,\u00a0both emotional and physical healing can occur and blood pressure will likely drop.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;Another point to make is that nurses must recognize the signs of compassion fatigue\u00a0and understand that\u00a0the\u00a0key to managing it is self-care,&#8221; Dunn said. &#8220;If nurses take care of their own needs first and intend compassion energy with patients, balance can be achieved.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"search-results-excerpt-link\" href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/nau-researcher-nurses-can-apply-science-caring-combat-compassion-fatigue\/\">The heart of healthcare is stressed. With longer shifts, staffing shortages and healthcare changes\u00a0taxing our nurses, it&#8217;s no\u00a0surprise that up\u00a0to\u00a080 percent\u00a0report\u00a0suffering compassion fatigue at some point in their careers, according to recent studies. NAU\u2019s Dorothy Dunn, assistant professor and doctor of nursing, has been actively researching the intentionality of compassion energy\u2014the converse of compassion fatigue\u2014in&hellip;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":43988,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1465,1463,1469,1468,38,1464,1466,1467],"class_list":["post-43985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics","tag-compassion-fatigue","tag-dorothy-dunn","tag-health","tag-intention-of-compassion-energy","tag-nau","tag-nursing","tag-nursing-burnout","tag-nursing-fatigue"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}