• Kyle S Richardson and Greenle Meredith MacKenzie MM Meredith MacKenzie Greenle is an assistant professor of nursing, M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, Villanova University, Villanova, .
• About the Authors: Kyle S. Richardson is a registered nurse in the cardiovascular intensive care unit at Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego, California and is an alumnus of Villanova University.
• Am. J. Crit. Care. 2020 Jul 1; 29 (4): 285-291.

BackgroundCompassion fatigue affects up to 40% of health care professionals who work in intensive care settings. Frequent exposure to the death of patients, particularly children, may put nurses at risk for compassion fatigue, but the relation between these is unclear among those working in pediatric intensive care units.ObjectivesTo examine the relationship between exposure to the death or near death of a pediatric patient and compassion fatigue, specifically the outcomes of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress.MethodsPediatric and neonatal intensive care nurses were surveyed about their exposure to patient death and near-death experiences. They were asked to respond to the Professional Quality of Life Scale, which has 3 subscales that measure compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. Bivariate and multivariate linear regression modeling was used to identify correlates of these outcomes.ResultsOf the 65 respondents, 94% were female, 41% were aged 31 to 45 years, and 71% had a bachelor's degree. No significant relationship was found between nurses' experiences of patient death or near death and their compassion satisfaction, burnout, or secondary traumatic stress. Significant correlates of compassion satisfaction and burnout included educational level and an age-experience interaction.ConclusionsNo relationship seems to exist between nurses' experiences of patient death or near death and their compassion satisfaction, burnout, or secondary traumatic stress. Further research is needed to evaluate the impact of educational attainment on nurse outcomes and determine how best to support nurses who are at risk for compassion fatigue.© 2020 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

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