Professional Experiences with Death Flashcards
What are the three types of professionals?
- first responders
- health care workers
- death care workers
what are the stressors and enrichment from caregiving?
- increased exposure to death and sometimes traumatic death, as a part of work, can lead to mental health concerns including stress, burnout, PTSD and compassion fatigue
- many who work with dying people or otherwise provide care to others report being personally enriched by their work
- compassion satisfaction: feeling gratified from providing care to others, joy experienced from helping others
what is primary vs. secondary trauma?
- primary = direct exposure to traumatic events
- secondary = exposure to the suffering of others. the emotional impacts of exposure to the suffering of others (informing family and friends of death, exposure to the grief of the bereaved loved ones of patients)
what is PTSD?What are the four factors associated with it?
1) re-experiencing (repeated unwanted memories)
2) avoidance (reminders of traumatic events)
3) emotional numbing
4) arousal (hypervigilance)
- associated with elevated risks of substance abuse, family violence and suicide
- more likely with repeated exposure to death, particularly with traumatic and tragic deaths
who is former Lt. Gen. Romo Dallaire?
- force commander of UN intervention in Rwanda from 1993-1994
- received orders not to intervene as genocide took place
800,000 people were killed in 100 days - became a public face of PTSD in Canada after suffering untreated for many years
define cumulative stress & burnout
cumulative stress/trauma: repeated exposure to death, traumatic incidents increases likelihood of PTSD
burnout: feeling emotionally drained or depleted; loss of motivation, interest, commitment, empathy, loss of personal sense of achievement in work (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, feelings of inefficacy)
- arises from work place conditions
what is moral distress?
- when healthcare workers feel conflicted or distressed about the ethics of providing care that may be futile, unnecessary or harmful to a patient
- feel unable to provide best care
- leads to feelings of guilt
- what is the concept that refers to the distressed feelings associated with being unable to provide optimal care to patients
what is compassion fatigue?
- when health care workers lose compassion and empathy for clients over time as a result of ongoing stress work
- can be related to increases in work load, decreased funding, staff pressures
- arises from contact with people experiencing trauma
- secondary trauma + burnout = compassion fatigue
what are gendered expectations and emotional vulnerability?
- emotional vulnerability is frequently associated with weakness, perceived as unprofessional
- leads to stigmatization of grief and stress in traditionally male dominated professions
- pressure to be strong leads to isolation, disenfranchised grief
- seeking help can be stigmatized when you are supposed to be the strong caregiver
describe the relationship between first responders and PTSD?
- stress associated with repeated exposure to violent and traumatic deaths, decision making, risking self
- first responders experience PTSD at 2 times the rate of the general population
- estimated that up to 22% of paramedics will develop PTSD
- estimated that 70,000 Canadian first responders have experienced PTSD
- the role as helper or protector limits likelihood of seeking help
how did Covid influence burnout?
- in spring of 2020, severe burnout was experienced by 30-40% of healthcare professionals, by spring of 2021, rates were over 60%
- nurses and younger professionals experienced higher rates
- higher risk for PTSD, burnout and compassion fatigue due to multiple and ongoing occupational stressors including short-staffing, long hours, shortages of PPE, higher exposure rates to death and dying
- limited ability to provide sufficient care can lead to moral distress
what are some consequences to burnout?
- associated with diminished safety
- diminished quality of care
- mental health problems, diminished quality of life
what about death care workers and stress in the workplace?
- death care workers report experiencing compassion fatigue due to high demands, long hours, intensity of the work with families
- possibly heightened due to covid
- we are dealing with everyone else’s grief, we are not immune to grief ourselves and distress at some of the situations that we come across
what does seeking help look like?
- respondents all professions describe that being able to talk, be vulnerable after a difficult incident is crucial for coping
- efforts are being made to normalize mental health struggles, emphasize self-care and provide access to mental health supports in numerous professions
social need to destigmatize vulnerability - need for structural change; provision of sufficient funding, resources
what are some mindfulness and self-care practices shown to reduce burnout?
- when you walk, pay attention to the sensation of contact between your feet and the ground
- keep a folder in your email of nice things that people have said about you or your work
- develop a role shedding ritual at the end of the day
- reward yourself for the completion of a task
- when you feel overwhelmed go outside or look out a window and notice something in nature
