Fear and Coping with Death in Intensive Care Nurses: a Structural Model Predictor of Compassion Fatigue

• Published in: Investigacion y educacion en enfermeria Vol. 41; no. 1
• Main Authors: Torres Soto, Nissa Yaing, Martínez, Beatriz, Ruíz Lara, Anahí, Medina Fernández, Josue Arturo, Fuentes Fernández, Esmeralda, Casco Gallardo, Karina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Colombia Universidad de Antioquía 01.01.2023; Imprenta Universidad de Antioquia
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Burnout, Professional; Compassion; Compassion Fatigue; Critical Care; cuidados críticos; death; Empathy; empatía; fadiga compaixão; fadiga mental; fatiga mental; fatiga por compasión; Fatigue; fear; Humans; Intensive care; medo; mental fatigue; miedo; morte; muerte; Nurses; nursing staff; Nursing Staff, Hospital; Original; personal de Enfermería; Quality of Life; recursos humanos de enfermagem; Surveys and Questionnaires; empathy; death; mental fatigue; nursing staff; critical care; compassion fatigue; fear
• ISSN: 0120-5307; 2216-0280; 2216-0280
• DOI: 10.17533/udea.iee.v41n1e12

To determine the effect of fear and coping with death on compassion fatigue in nurses working in the intensive care unit. Correlational-predictive design, applied in 245 nurses working in the intensive care unit through intentional sampling. The study applied a personal data card, the Collet-Lester Fear of Death Scale (α=0.72), the Bugen Fell of Death Scale (α=0.82), and the Empathy Exhaustion Scale (α=0.80). Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed, such as Spearman's test and a structural equation model. The work had 255 nurses who participated, finding a relationship among fear and coping toward death and compassion fatigue (p<0.01), together with the equation model showing that fear and coping toward death have a positive effect in 43.6% on compassion fatigue. Fear and coping with death have an effect on compassion fatigue in nurses working in the intensive care unit, so that when working in a critical area it can cause health effects.