Burnout, compassion fatigue and psychological capital: Findings from a survey of nurses delivering palliative care

Background: Ageing populations worldwide and a concomitant increase in chronic conditions translates into an increased demand for the delivery of palliative and end of life care by nurses. This increasing demand for palliative care provision may produce stressors resulting in negative outcomes such as burnout and compassion fatigue. Aim The purpose of this study was to explore burnout and compassion fatigue, as well as potential protective factors, among nurses in New Zealand. Methods: An online survey was conducted with 256 registered nurses (between January 2016 and February 2017) recruited through nursing organisations and a large tertiary level hospital. Data analysis consisted of descriptive statistics, multivariate analysis of variance, Pearson correlations, and hierarchical multiple regression. Results: Psychological empowerment and the commitment and challenge components of psychological hardiness significantly predicted lower scores for the burnout while previous palliative care education and challenge predicted lower scores for the secondary traumatic stress component of compassion fatigue. Significant predictors of compassion satisfaction included previous palliative care education, psychological empowerment and both the commitment and challenge components of psychological hardiness. Conclusion. Nurses draw upon unique combinations of "psychological capital" to deal with caring for patients with life-limiting illnesses. Any interventions to increase nurse palliative care education uptake must be tailored to develop and support these internal resources.