Compassion fatigue
Compassion fatigue in a gradual wearing out of physical and emotional being of correctional staff, hence gradually killing the compassionate feeling towards others. Is as a result of the above in that there the body spirit and soul of an individual wears out in the process of comping up with the demand of his/her career. The retelling of traumatic events by offenders with time can ware out correctional officers driving them to a state of trauma traumatization. A worker with compassion and corrections fatigue will exhibit symptoms such as self-isolation, drug abuse, sleep disorder, lack of or poor job satisfaction, and most importantly chronic physical and emotional exhaustion.
Compassion and corrections fatigue is a gradual problem with stages and can eventually lead to stress, depression, and in some cases develop in PDTD. The above conditions start by affecting the relationship between workers and the employer, their clients, and other personal relationships. In such cases, a correction worker can not be able to handle his/her responsibilities effectively both at work and outside work. Another area affected is the health of a correctional worker. This may start with physical health issues such as weight loss, high blood pressure with other health issues reappearing such as mental instability resulting in suicidal thoughts.
An officer under this condition may no longer be able to understand their role in the institution.
The offer who was previously a go-getter becomes a procrastinator of events or scheduled work and cannot or take long to achieve a simple task. In some instances, an officer may experience role conflicts in that they are unable to adhere to the professional ethics they are trained to. Research has shown that correctional officer as at a high risk of developing diseases such as heart attacks, ulcers among other stress-related diseases. The same study also shows they die sooner than they are supposed to.
Compassion and corrections fatigue is a serious problem. What can we do? According to the National Commission of Correctional Healthcare, the initial step toward healing and prevention of compassion and correction fatigue is to recognize and a self-care policy that takes care of both physical and mental wellness of correctional works. Another key strategy is working with evaluators whereby a correctional work is committed to sharing information, actions, and feelings to people who can validate them. Also, it is important to monitor sleep patterns, reduce stressful workloads, and most importantly conduct regular Excelsis.