Compassion Fatigue: Can Nurses Live Happily Ever After?
With all the stresses and demands of their jobs, can oncology nurses live happily ever after? Yes, according to Jennifer Kenderski, BSN, RN, OCN, who presented a poster on building resiliency to compassion fatigue at the 16th International Conference on Cancer Nursing in Atlanta. Kenderski, a radiation oncology clinical nurse at the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, has the unique perspective of an oncology nurse who herself has been an oncology patient. “I thought I was a good nurse before I had cancer, but after going through cancer, you feel more connected to your patients,” she said. Although she calls oncology nursing “the most fulfilling job I have ever had,” she realized that the realities of working with very sick patients and their families can take a toll on nurses and lead to compassion fatigue, which she defines as “physical, emotional, and spiritual fatigue that develops over time and t
