Compassion Fatigue and Secondary Trauma: A Seminar as Part of the CARE Project
As part of the CARE project, we are continuing our systematic work with nurses at the Volyn Regional Clinical Hospital, aimed at supporting their mental and emotional well-being and preventing burnout.
One of the recent seminars focused on a topic that directly affects the daily work of healthcare professionals — the impact of constant exposure to patients’ pain and traumatic experiences.
Participants explored the differences between:
• compassion fatigue
• secondary traumatic stress
• vicarious trauma
A separate focus was placed on practical application: how to recognise these conditions in good time and maintain one’s own resilience at work.
Key point: these conditions are normal reactions to challenging professional experiences — and they can be managed provided one pays timely attention to one’s own well-being.
The “CARE” project is implemented by the European Ukrainian Council for Cooperation and Development (EUCCD) with the support of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic as part of the MEDEVAC czech, in partnership with the Volyn Regional Clinical Hospital.
