Secondary traumatic stress and compassion fatigue in female healthcare professionals

INTRODUCTION AND AIM: Compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress disorder (STSD), have become one of the important problems that need to be addressed in healthcare professionals because care involves compassion and the painful and traumatic situations experienced while providing care. In this study, it was aimed to examine the connection between Compassion Fatigue and STSD in female healthcare professionals and to determine which factors played an active role in this formation. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The study was conducted on 335 female healthcare professionals providing care in a public hospital in Sakarya city center between May-September 2022. The data were collected through a personal information form based on relevant literature information, the Compassion Fatigue – Short Scale (CF-SS) and the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS). The data were evaluated by computerized environment using SPSS 24.0, percentage, t-test, ANOVA, correlation analysis. Statistical significance was accepted as p<0,05. RESULTS: 50,1% of the female health workers who participated in our study were between the ages of 18-25, 80,9% had undergraduate or graduate education and 67,1% were nurses. In our research, there were found statistically significant and positive relationships between average scores of scales and sub-dimensions the STSS and CF-SS of female health workers (p<0,05). The average CF-SS and STSS scores of the female health workers who did not willingly choose their profession and the unit they worked in, who could not spare time for their private life, who felt exhausted, who were dissatisfied with their work, and who had a history of trauma exposure (p<0,05). CONCLUSION: It was observed that the female healthcare professionals who participated in our research were at risk of compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress disorder formation.