Compassion Fatigue and Compassion Satisfaction in Pediatric Intensive Care Professionals.

Area of Science:

• Medical Research
• Psychology
• Healthcare Professionals

Background:

• Pediatric ICU professionals face emotional distress caring for critically ill children and families.
• This emotional burden impacts their quality of professional life.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of compassion satisfaction (CS) and compassion fatigue (CF) among healthcare professionals in Greek Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs).

Main Methods:

• 147 professionals in Greek public hospital PICUs completed the ProQOL-V scale.
• A questionnaire assessed socio-demographic and professional-life characteristics.

Main Results:

• 74.8% of participants were at medium risk for compassion fatigue (CF).
• 23.1% and 76.9% reported high or medium potential for compassion satisfaction (CS), respectively.
• Over half reported being overprotective of families and work-life affecting general attitude.

Conclusions:

• Identifying CF risk factors can help mitigate the negative impacts of patient trauma and loss on pediatric ICU staff.
• A trauma-informed culture and education can protect professionals from secondary traumatic stress and emotional erosion.