Compassion Fatigue for nurses? Do you have it? Good link in my next update.
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About the Author
My name is Jeff Long. I’m the Marketing Manager at Medical Solutions, a
travel nursing company. I have never been a nurse and am not a recruiter. I have worked at Medical Solutions for four years and think it is a great company that has a lot to offer nurses and allied health professionals interested in a travel career. I do post just a small sampling of
travel nursing jobs from Medical Solutions, but you will not be recruited on this blog (unless you specifically inquire about traveling with Medical Solutions then I will forward your info to a Recruiter). I understand that you are reading and/or commenting on this blog purely for informational purposes and I want you to enjoy that experience My job is to help you meet your career goals by sharing information, advice and the benefits of travel nursing with you.
Are you a FABULOUS travel nurse? Travel nurses are compassionate and have a strong desire to alleviate pain. Compassionate travel nurses can experience compassion fatigue, where they are preocupied with their patient’s taruma and crisis situations. Nurses may experience avoidance, numbing, re-experince their patient’s traumatic events, can feel helpless, confused, and isolated. Travel nurses understand that their patients experience primary traumatic stress, but must be mindful of the secondary traumatic stress they can experience in being caring helpers. The research recommends that travel nurses identify time management techniques, eat well, exercise, and limit alcohol use. During my keynotes for nursing conferences across the country, I recommend being FABULOUS! Travel nurses can remember this word to prevent compassion fatigue. Let’s look at what FABULOUS stands for . . . F=Flexiblity, A=Attitude, B=Boundaries, U=Understanding, L=Laughter, O=Optimistic,U=United, S=Self-esteem. If travel nurses are cognitively flexible, have a postivie attitude, maintain boundaires, are understanding and find ways to laugh and maintain optimism, are united and connected with friends, family, peers, their belief system and/or their community while maintaining a positive self-esteem they can lessen their stress levels, prevent burnout, and cope with compassion fatigue.