A Heart of Gold to An Iron Fist: Compassion Fatigue & Resiliency

The term “compassion fatigue” was coined in 1995 to describe the emotional exhaustion resulting from continuous care-giving to those in need. While often used synonymously with “burnout,” the two terms are unique. Given the recent spike in sensitivity to mental health well-being, medical professionals are becoming more mindful of compassion fatigue and its impact on themselves, patient safety, professional satisfaction, and personal dealings. Medical literature recognizes the pervasiveness of compassion fatigue throughout the spectrum of health professions, however, most discussions are focused on disciplines other than pharmacy. In a dichotomous era of increased pharmacist involvement in direct patient care and concerns for unmanageable workloads, long hours, and job dissatisfaction, the call for early recognition of compassion fatigue and provision of well-being resources, has come. During this CE activity, pharmacists will learn how to recognize the symptoms of compassion fatigue in themselves, their colleagues, and their trainees, familiarize themselves with practical well-being plans, and formulate ways to establish supportive resources to prevent and handle compassion fatigue within their respective institutions and departments of pharmacy.

Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this activity, the participant should be able to:

Recognize the signs and symptoms of burnout and compassion fatigue

Evaluate the rationale for the importance of compassion fatigue awareness in the pharmacy profession

Design a pragmatic self-care/resiliency schedule to proactively handle compassion fatigue

Propose implementation strategies for a departmental compassion fatigue prevention and mitigation program