A vision of compassion fatigue in palliative care

Abstract

Palliative care (PC) improves the quality of life of patients, caregivers and their families when they face physical, psychological, social or spiritual problems inherent to a life-threatening illness. The CP team provides comprehensive management, trying to minimize suffering in all dimensions; which carries a high emotional charge; experiencing compassion on a very individual basis, either as compassion satisfaction (CS) or compassion fatigue (CF). CF is a complex process, it includes the deterioration of personal resources, affecting professional and personal areas. CF must be addressed in a conscious way, increase its recognition and minimize its impact since this improves decision-making, clarity of communication and patient, family, caregiver and health professional satisfaction.