Title : Graduating Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Students: Satisfied, Fatigued, or Stressed?
Abstract:
Nursing care is not a duty that should be taken lightly—it is of utmost importance that nursing care is delivered to clients safely with empathy and competence. Professional nurses, such as a Registered Nurse (RN), are on the frontlines of providing care. “The backbone of a true caring professional is compassion, where care providers have a feeling of empathy for the suffering or misfortune of others and understand the client’s personal feelings or experiences without being judgmental” (Williams & Stickley 2010: 73). However, nurses may experience compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, or secondary traumatic stress. Upon graduation, pre-licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students seek to become an RN. Michalec, Diefenbeck, and Mahoney (2013) suggest “Because burnout and compassion fatigue are such a detriment to nurse well-being and the nursing workforce overall, it is essential to uncover if and to what extent nurses-in-training may be suffering from these debilitating affective/cognitive states.”
