Coping Strategies and Interventions for Secondary Trauma, Compassion Fatigue, and Burnout for School Nurses [Enduring]

Coping Strategies and Interventions for Secondary Trauma, Compassion Fatigue, and Burnout for School Nurses [Enduring] is organized by National Association of School Nurses (NASN).

Release Date: 10/27/2022
Reviewed: 10/27/2024
Expiration Date: 10/27/2027

Description:
The National Institutes of Health reported that one in three nurses expressed symptoms of compassion fatigue and burnout (Reith, 2018). As caseloads increase, school nurses are caring for students with multiple chronic illnesses and increased mental health disorders. These emerging health trends enable school nurses the unique opportunity to vicariously experience profound grief, dysfunction, pain, and anguish as they actively listen and empathize with students, families, and school staff. Over time, these experiences can lead to secondary trauma, compassion fatigue and burnout. Studies (Cocker, & Joss, 2016), have shown that human service professionals who are continuously exposed to clients experiencing trauma or stress can be negatively impacted physically, mentally, and emotionally. According to the American Nurses Association (2017), it is essential that nurses maintain their own individual health in order to foster a healthy personal and professional balance. It is imperative that school nurses be provided with resources to achieve individual resilience protective factors such as social skills, self-efficacy, cognitive restructuring, and psychological flexibility to be prepared to care for students, parents, and school faculty members.

As a result of participating in this session, school nurses will not only be able to define secondary trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout, they will also be able to identify evidenced-based interventions and strategies to help prevent compassion fatigue and burnout and promote positive mental health and self-stewardship.

Learning Outcomes
As a result of participating in this educational program, learners will be able to:

• Define secondary trauma and compassion fatigue.
• Learn how secondary trauma and compassion fatigue lead to burnout.
• Identify three signs and causes of burnout.
• Identify three interventions that mitigate the negative impacts of secondary trauma and compassion fatigue.
• Identify at least three interventions to prevent burnout.