Research Article: Compassion fatigue in healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review protocol
Abstract:
Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the psychological health and well-being of healthcare providers. An amplification in chronic stressors, workload and fatalities may have increased the risk of compassion fatigue and disrupted the quality of patient care. Although current studies have explored the general psychological status of healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic, few have focused on compassion fatigue. The purpose of this review is to explore the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on compassion fatigue in healthcare providers and the repercussions of compassion fatigue on patient care. Methods and analysis This scoping review will follow Joanna Briggs Institute and Arksey and O’Malley scoping review methodology. Comprehensive searches will be conducted in the following relevant databases: MEDLINE (Ovid), PsycINFO (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science. To expand the search, reference lists of included studies will be handsearched for additional relevant studies. Included studies must report on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on compassion fatigue in healthcare providers and have been published in English since January 2020. Ethics and dissemination This review does not require research ethics board approval. By examining the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on compassion fatigue in healthcare providers, this scoping review can offer important insight into the possible risks, protective factors and strategies to support healthcare providers’ psychological health and patient care amidst persisting stressful conditions.
Introduction:
On the 30 January 2020, the novel COVID-19 outbreak was declared a global health emergency. 1 As of 17 August 2022, there have been approximately 600?million confirmed cases and 6.4?million deaths globally due to COVID-19. 2 The constant influx of patients infected with COVID-19 into acute care hospitals presented a great challenge for healthcare and long-term care systems due to limitations in capacities, staff and resources. 3 Healthcare providers (HCPs) experienced a sudden and unprecedented increase in chronic…
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