Abstract:
In the public healthcare sector in South Africa, nurses treat a large number of
patients who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) on an
outpatient basis. Many patients consult the nurses only when they experience
symptoms due to the delayed onset of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment. The large
number of patients and often poor outcome of treatment could result in
compassion fatigue in the nurses. The aim of the current study was to describe
the cost of having a relationship with HIV-positive patients on nurses who work
in outpatient ARV clinics. A qualitative, single, embedded case study design
was used, and six registered nurses (RNs) and one enrolled nurse (EN) were
individually interviewed. The data analysis revealed two themes, namely: (1)
the risk of developing compassion fatigue; and (2) the manifestation of
compassion fatigue. The themes were discussed with reference to the extant
literature. Many research reports have focused on compassion fatigue in nurses
in hospital-based settings, but few on the manifestation of compassion fatigue
in nurses who work in outpatient settings. The authors concluded that nurses
who take care of HIV-positive patients on an outpatient basis are at risk of
developing and do manifest compassion fatigue, and it is thus recommended
that programmes be instituted to support them.
