Compassion Fatigue in the Nursing Home Industry

October 2016

Compassion Fatigue or “burn out” for those working in the nursing home industry is a legitimate condition and concern.

Nursing home staff can feel overburdened by the burdens and emotions associated with caring for frail and elderly patients on a daily basis.

If people don’t balance taking care of themselves with taking caring of others, it can lead to stress, burnout and compassion fatigue.

If not recognized or addressed, this“burn out” can lead to emotional outbursts, substance abuse and even clinical depression as well as medical and legal problems.

Encouraging weekly support groups for compassion fatigue and grief as well as other issues that affect employee health—such as smoking cessation and weight gain—also are helpful. Corporate wellness programs can help elevate employee levels of compassion satisfaction,which is the pleasure we derive from doing the care giving work we do.

Below are additional ideas for providing support and respite care to nursing home employees:

Offer training. Many employees might not even know they’re at risk. Offer training sessions on identifying, preventing, and resolving caregiver burnout and you’ll get the double-benefit of educating them to look for warning signs among their peers, too. And, if your facility offers respite care, staff can also encourage family members who seem on the verge of burnout or breakdown to take advantage of that service — another win.
Set up mentoring relationships. Every senior care community has veteran employees whose years of experience have buoyed them through the inevitable ups and downs of caring for seniors.
Facilitate support group meetings for employees. Provide staff with a safe space to vent, share advice, and cheer one another on. Appoint a trusted professional either within / outside of the community to lead the group, steering the conversations away from gossip, complaints, or inappropriate violations of patient privacy, as needed.
Say “thank you” — often. Sometimes, just knowing their work is appreciated gives the boost a dedicated employee needs.