Compassion Fatigue and Psychological Capital in Nurses Working in Acute Care Settings

Abstract

Recent studies have demonstrated that the prevalence of compassion fatigue is negatively impacting both the quality of caring for patients and nurses’ professional quality of life. Psychological Capital (PsyCap) has the potential to enable nurses to be resilient and flourishing in overwhelming situations. This cross-sectional study tested the correlations between Compassion Fatigue (CF) and PsyCap. Findings of this study suggested that PsyCap was moderately to strongly negatively correlated with CF. This suggested that improving PsyCap might be a good intervention for preventing CF. The findings from this study have implications related to caring in many of the service industries.