Factors associated with compassion fatigue among ICU nurses in Greece

ICU nurses work in a demanding environment and they are repetitively exposed to traumatic situations and stressful events. There is a growing interest in the phenomenon of compassion fatigue (CF) and its impact on healthcare professionals; however, its impact on ICU nurses is basically unknown. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the risk for CF (the trauma suffered by the helping professional) and burnout (BO - emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced sense of personal accomplishment), and the potential for compassion satisfaction (CS - the fulfillment from helping others and positive collegial relationships) among ICU nurses. An additional goal was to test the relationship between nurses' characteristics (demographic and occupational) and CF risk.