Compassion fatigue and burnout are the two most frequently talked about aspects of professional quality of life. This book shares stories of human connection and the intimacy of the caring experience. Part one discusses the integral relationship between the cared for and the carers, with an emphasis on an ethic of care. Part two discusses the positive aspects of nurses’ professional quality of life, focusing on compassion contentment and its relationship to their ethical foundation—the values and excellences identified and solidified in their code of ethics. It introduces a healing model (ART) specifically designed to address the enhancement of professional quality of life. It addresses different aspects of professional quality of life (compassion fatigue, moral distress, burnout, workplace violence, facing death, posttraumatic stress disorder, leadership) and describes how ART can be applied. Part three covers the bad—both compassion fatigue and moral distress. Part four delineates the ugly, uglier, and ugliest aspects of professional quality of life. It includes discussion of incivility and bullying which are definitely the uglier side of nursing. Part five discusses how facing death can negatively affect nurses and, conversely, how it can positively transform the way they go about being in the world and how they go about caring for the dying and their loved ones. It includes a discussion on collective trauma and death overload, from both natural and man-made disasters, along with posttraumatic stress. Part six discusses the collective healing of nursing profession through nursing education and leadership efforts and how, through knowing participation, nurses can work toward transforming the workplace and enhancing their professional quality of life.
