Abstract

This study explored the impacts of compassion fatigue on social workers working with oncology patients. The purposive sample featured 12 medical social workers providing psychosocial care in hospitals to oncology patients in Korea. Based on in-depth interviews on the effects of compassion fatigue, the following main themes emerged: (a) personal well-being (negative physical symptoms, feeling dejected, rumination, guilt and regret, excessive concern about health, and overwhelmed by sadness); (b) work (losing a sense of purpose, emotionally unavailable, avoiding clients, and feeling demotivated); (c) coming to terms with compassion fatigue (learning to manage compassion fatigue and recognizing helpful strategies); and (d) transforming the impact of compassion fatigue (change in life perspective, finding strength in life and self, and becoming humble). This study informs readers of the development of interventions to counter the negative consequences of compassion fatigue. Future research should focus on further understanding about how oncology social workers develop and cope with compassion fatigue, with an emphasis on the experiences of those with different characteristics and available resources.

摘要

这项研究探讨了同情疲劳对与肿瘤患者合作的社工的影响。目的样本包括12名医务社会工作者，他们在医院为韩国的肿瘤患者提供心理社会护理。在对同情疲劳的影响进行深入访谈的基础上，出现了以下主要主题：（a）个人福祉（负面的身体症状，沮丧，沉思，内，和后悔，过分关注健康以及不堪忧虑） ; （b）工作（失去目标感，情绪低落，回避客户和动力不足）；（c）接受同情疲劳（学习处理同情疲劳并认识到有用的策略）；（d）改变同情疲劳的影响（改变生活观点，寻找生活和自我的力量，变得谦虚）。这项研究向读者介绍了针对同情疲劳造成的负面后果的干预措施。未来的研究应集中于对肿瘤社会工作者如何发展和应对同情疲劳的进一步了解，重点是具有不同特征和可用资源的人们的经验。