Compassion Fatigue and Burnout, One Institution's Interventions.

Compassion is a complex abstract concept and is generally perceived as an emotional reaction to another person's vulnerability and suffering that motivates an individual wanting the best for the one who is suffering. It is seen as a virtuous and an inherent quality of nursing care. Nurses are exposed to various work stressors caused by myriads of complex professional and organizational challenges. In response, some nurses have developed coping mechanisms exemplified by detachment and distance in the caring relationship, whereas others have fallen victim to compassion fatigue or burnout, stressors that may increase the risk for suicide. There is a direct cost to health care organizations when the staff begin to show signs of burnout and fatigue. It is incumbent on health care leaders to establish assistance programs to improve the quality of work life of caregivers, prevent and remove work stressors to reduce turnover, and retain talent.

Improving access to palliative care clinical pastoral education.

Palliative care is interprofessional care for seriously ill people. Many clergy, religious leaders, and hospice and palliative care chaplains of color and minority religious backgrounds desire clinical palliative care education. This manuscript presents findings from a three-year quality improvement project which included the development of a palliative care specialty ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care and Education (ACPE) accredited program at an academic medical center. The program was designed to improve spiritual care provision in palliative care at the institution and to facilitate the participation of clergy and spiritual leaders of color and minority religious groups. Forty-six students participated in 53 400-h clinical pastoral education units. Strategies from medical education literature were employed to address obstacles to CPE participation including a racially and religiously diverse CPE advisory group, financial assistance, flexible learning (e.g. hybrid, asynchronous), and clinical placement agreements at places of employment. Upon completion of the program students provided written feedback, participated in a structured exit interview and completed a survey. Data were reviewed for common themes and results report student perceptions about the strategies utilized.