Prevalence of Compassion Fatigue Among Nursing Staffs Working in High Acuity Clinical Settings, within Dubai Health Authority Hospitals, UAE.

Abstract

Background: Compassion Fatigue is common among nurses and can have devastating consequences if not detected early. The impact may be more prevalent where nurses work in emotionally challenging environments, such as high-acuity clinical areas. Studies about compassion fatigue (CF) are plenteous in the western world. Yet, there is a paucity of research attributed to these issues in the gulf region , particularly in UAE. Our study explores the prevalence of Compassion Fatigue among Nurses working in Dubai Health Authority (DHA) hospitals. Methods: Our study used a Descriptive, Cross-sectional design. The Professional Quality of Life Scale version 5 (ProQOL 5) was used for data collection from nurses working in high-acuity clinical areas, in all the DHA hospitals. Results: A total of 525 Nurses returned the completed survey forms. 61% of the participants reported moderate compassion satisfaction while 38.1% reported high levels of compassion satisfaction. 67.6% of  participants reported moderate levels of burnout with 54.7% seeming to be having secondary traumatic stress. Conclusion: the study strongly recommends initiating interventions and strategies aimed at combating compassion fatigue.