Burnout, compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction among nurses in the context of maternal and perinatal deaths

Abstract

This study investigated the prevalence and levels of burnout, compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction among nurses with exposure to maternal and perinatal deaths. A convenience sample of 83 nurses was selected for participation from six hospitals in Limpopo province, South Africa, comprising 98% females with an age range of 21 to 62 years, and 15 to 18 mean years of experience in maternal and perinatal care. The nurses completed the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL R-IV), which is a measure of burnout, compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction. The analysis examined the prevalence and level of burnout, compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction among the nurses. Most of the respondents (92%) reported with moderate burnout scores, and about 67% reported with moderate to high compassion fatigue scores, whilst 82% reported with compassion satisfaction scores. Moderate levels of high burnout and compassion fatigue can co-occur with relatively high compassion satisfaction among nurses in critical-care health services.

Keywords:

• compassion satisfaction
• burnout and compassion fatigue
• maternal and perinatal deaths
• South Africa

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the financial and mentoring support obtained from the Phodiso Project of the University of Limpopo, in collaboration with UCLA. The investigators would like to thank the data collectors and capturers for their assistance during the field work.