Piloting the Perfect Storm: A Vision for the Vital Practitioner

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Occupational Health
• Psychology

Background:

• A private university nursing program initiated the "Initiative for Vital Practice" to address rising compassion fatigue (CF) and burnout.
• These issues were prevalent among faculty and staff during significant program revisions and leadership changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate self-management practices aimed at mitigating compassion fatigue (CF) in nursing faculty and staff.
• To establish a baseline for measuring the impact of burnout and secondary stress.

Main Methods:

• A pilot mixed-methods project was conducted.
• Self-management practices for mitigating CF were evaluated.
• Individual and organizational stressors and alleviators were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Thirty-four faculty and staff identified four primary risk factors for CF: physical symptoms (41%), feeling trapped in work (41%), lacking time away (32%), and inability to work hard enough (29%).
• Aggregate scores on Professional Quality of Life scales indicated a "moderate level" of impact.

Conclusions:

• Preliminary findings provide a baseline for assessing burnout and secondary stress.
• Results will guide the further development of organizational frameworks and the "Initiative for Vital Practice".