Compassion Fatigue in Clinical Nurses: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis

Introduction: despite the agreement regarding the significance of the concept of compassion fatigue (cf) in nursing, it has been unrecognized and there is no clear definition of cf in the context of nursing. the aim of this study was to inductively develop or formulate a clear and uniformed definition of compassion fatigue in the context of nursing. methods: this study was conducted using the rodger’s concept analysis, literaturebased method and thematic analysis. steps of the rodger’s concept analysis encompass identifying the concept and associated definition, attributes, antecedents, consequences, surrogate terms, related concepts, and a model case exemplar. a literature search was performed from 1992 to 2016. finally, 45 references were selected. a thematic analysis was conducted for data analysis. results: in this analysis, after defining attributes such as cumulative and progressive process, individualized, self-absorption, and comprehensive, cf can be defined in this way: “cf is a cumulative, progressive, and individualized process that is caused by prolonged exposure to patients in pain, suffering and distress and threatens integrity of nurses’ life. nurses with cf lose their caring or nurturing ability and then they will not able to care own selves and others (patients, organization and members of the family)”. conclusions: this analysis demonstrated that the concept of cf consists of excessive empathy, symptomatology of secondary traumatic stress, problematic work environment of burnout and coping mechanism deficit.