Is this compassion fatigue?

[thevez17]

Recently, I shot myself in the foot by unknowingly scheduling myself for a 5 day straight 12 hour night shifts. I should have known it was coming. I cared for the same patients for most of these 5 nights shifts and by the fourth night, I told myself I was done taking care of these two patients. Done in the sense of thinking "please give me another group assignment cause I don't think I can do the same routine of caring for this patient again." I felt this immense annoyance and impatience when I cared for this patient by the fourth night and that I don't want to harm her in anyway possible that's why I requested for my nurse manager not to be assigned to this patient again.

They asked me why?

I told them, I might be experiencing "compassion fatigue."

They looked at me as if I just spoke a "foreign word."

So some of you experienced nurses out there, was I experiencing "it"?

P.S.

I have been a nurse for 2 years now.

I have more to learn and more to experience.

[macawake, MSN]

Recently, I shot myself in the foot by unknowingly scheduling myself for a 5 day straight 12 hour night shifts. I should have known it was coming. I cared for the same patients for most of these 5 nights shifts and by the fourth night, I told myself I was done taking care of these two patients.

I requested for my nurse manager not to be assigned to this patient again.

They asked me why?

I told them, I might be experiencing "compassion fatigue."

So some of you experienced nurses out there, was I experiencing "it"?

Honestly, no. From what you've described I think that you were experiencing working too many twelve hour night shifts in a row.

I believe that compassion fatigue is something that generally develops over time, not in five days.

I think that you need to give yourself time to "recharge your battery" between periods of work. What I do in order to prevent compassion fatigue and burnout is to eat well, get enough rest and plenty of exercise and generally try to have a fullfilling life outside of work. And not work sixty hours in a row if I can avoid it

I think that even the nicest patient might start to grate on my nerves after that kind of prolonged contact. If they're "difficult" which sick people often are (quite understandable), I don't think that I would be in any shape to provide optimal care for so many shifts without a breather in between.

[quazar]

I agree with the PP. I think it was mostly due to exhaustion. On my unit, if there is a nurse who asks to not be reassigned a patient after a couple of nights in a row, the charge nurse usually is quite understanding. Sometimes you just can't deal any more. However, I don't think anyone would be able to deal at all after 5 nights in a row. That schedule makes me crabby just thinking about working it.

[thevez17]

Thank you guys for the reassurance.

[NightNerd, MSN, RN]

Like the others, I wouldn't call this computation fatigue. But there are those occasional patients that do put a huge drain on you, and I think it's okay to ask for a break. In working even three twelves in a row, I have said to the charge nurse, "If staffing allows, I could use a break from Room 2." No shame in that game.

[NevadaFighter, BSN, RN]

We have a special name for those kinds of patients on our units. We refer to them as "Share the Love" patients. There is nothing wrong with getting burnt out from dealing with a patient...you can seriously only take so much.

[holliewood]

I had a similar situation in the neonatal ICU. I worked overnight, and had to "sleep" in the hospital that day due to a hurricane. I might have slept 3 hours. The first night I took care of a baby who was deaf, blind, and very irritable due to both the sensory issues, and other underlying neuro issues.

I. Couldn't. Do. It. Again.

I respectfully asked the charge nurse for a different assignment, and explained that I was exhausted, and would not be about to provide this baby with the attention that he required and deserved (there were other nurses making their way in that hadn't been required to stay at the hospital, so I suggested assigning a "fresh" nurse to this baby).

I also got treated like I had 3 heads. Several other nurses asked what was wrong with me, and why I couldn't handle it. The baby's primary RN took it very personally, and cornered me in the bathroom asking why I didn't "like her baby." Nobody understood that I was simply tired!

Now when I do charge I try to be sensitive to the number of shifts that nurses have worked, and try to spread out the "needy" patients. I hate that nursing has a culture where asking for help is viewed as a sign of weakness.

[RescueNinjaKy]

On my unit when we have those really difficult patients, personality wise, noncompliant wise, or simply too heavy a load (total cares/bat poop demented) we don't have much issue with reassigning it to another nurse. Most of the time the new nurse won't mind since they're picking up a new patient due to discharge anyways.