Oncology-Hematology Nurses' Perspectives on the Compassion Fatigue Resiliency Program: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background. Oncology-hematology nurses are at increased risk for compassion fatigue. It remains unclear whether the Compassion Fatigue Resiliency program is effective, and qualitative evidence from participant feedback is limited. This was a follow-up study to a quantitative study of the Compassion Fa-tigue Resiliency program. The aims of this study were to evaluate how the content of the program affects nurses' compassion fatigue and coping abilities and to obtain their views. Method. This qualitative study was performed with 24 oncology-hematology nurses at two hospitals. Three focus groups were conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Re-sults. Four themes emerged: awareness; coping; not for others, for me; and training design. Nurses stated they had only just learned what compassion fatigue and its impact were and had gained more aware-ness. Conclusion. The content of the Compassion Fatigue Resiliency program helped nurses learn ef-fective coping skills; however, the program's design is important to its effectiveness. [