Mental Health Nurses' Spiritual Well-Being, Personal Trauma History, Compassion Fatigue, and Compassion Satisfaction.

INTRODUCTION

Mental health nursing can be highly rewarding but at the same time overwhelmingly stressful or even traumatizing. Spirituality constitutes a central element of mental health nurses' resilience while personal trauma may be activated during exposure to beneficiaries' trauma.

AIM: The aim of this study is to examine the impact of sociodemographic and work-related characteristics, spirituality, and history of trauma on compassion fatigue (CF) and compassion satisfaction among psychiatric nurses in Greece.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey study with a total of 91 mental health nurses selected by convenience sampling and required to complete the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL-V), the FACIT-Spiritual Well-Being Scale-12 non-illness scale, and the Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire (TLEQ).

RESULTS

More than a quarter (25.3%) of participants reported high compassion fatigue risk, while 76% expressed high to moderate potential for compassion satisfaction. Secondary traumatic stress (STS) as expected was found to correlate positively with traumatic life events and negatively with the spirituality dimension of meaning. Spiritual well-being, good physical health, high levels of cooperation, respect for teamwork and positive work climate were positively related to higher levels of compassion satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study shed light on the significant prevalence of compassion fatigue and personal trauma history among nursing staff, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to improve the mental health of front-line health care nurses. Mental health care organizations must recognize the importance of fostering compassionate work environments that prioritize mental health professionals' spiritual and psychological well-being.