Compassion fatigue among nurses in skilled nursing facilities: Discoveries and challenges of a conceptual model in research.

Compassion fatigue is a concept that has been widely used to represent a phenomenon of concern to nurses and relevant to their well-being; yet, this concept lacks clarity and has been difficult to quantify (Figley, 1995; Sabo, 2006). The purpose of this article is to present the current conceptual model of compassion fatigue as applied in research, focusing on my study of nurses caring for older adults in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). I will describe some of the challenges with the mostly commonly used Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) model, and corresponding ProQOL Version 5 tool used to study compassion fatigue and offer directions for future research.