European journal of oncology nursing : the official journal of European Oncology Nursing SocietyMay 9, 2017

How mental health influences burnout and compassion fatigue in cancer nurses

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Mar 30, 2026

Abstract

Psychological factors explained 26% of compassion satisfaction, 29% of burnout, and 18% of compassion fatigue in oncology nurses.

Higher levels of compassion satisfaction are associated with greater empathy and the ability to understand others' perspectives.
Nurses with higher compassion satisfaction are less affected by negative emotions related to witnessing others' suffering.
Increased self-compassion is linked to higher compassion satisfaction in nurses.
Burnout and compassion fatigue are more prevalent among self-judgmental nurses with psychological inflexibility.
Nurses experiencing burnout and compassion fatigue report more personal distress when observing suffering and lower levels of empathy.

Simplified

PURPOSE: This study explored the role of several psychological factors in professional quality of life in nurses. Specifically, we tried to clarify the relationships between several dimensions of empathy, self-compassion, and psychological inflexibility, and positive (compassion satisfaction) and negative (burnout and compassion fatigue) domains of professional quality of life.

METHODS: Using a cross-sectional design, a convenience sample of 221 oncology nurses recruited from several public hospitals filling out a battery of self-report measures.

RESULTS: Results suggested that nurses that benefit more from their work of helping and assisting others (compassion satisfaction) seem to have more empathic feelings and sensibility towards others in distress and make an effort to see things from others' perspective. Also, they are less disturbed by negative feelings associated with seeing others' suffering and are more self-compassionate. Nurses more prone to experience the negative consequences associated with care-providing (burnout and compassion fatigue) are more self-judgmental and have more psychological inflexibility. In addition, they experience more personal feelings of distress when seeing others in suffering and less feelings of empathy and sensibility to others' suffering. Psychological factors explained 26% of compassion satisfaction, 29% of burnout and 18% of compassion fatigue.

CONCLUSION: We discuss the results in terms of the importance of taking into account the role of these psychological factors in oncology nurses' professional quality of life, and of designing nursing education training and interventions aimed at targeting such factors.

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How mental health influences burnout and compassion fatigue in cancer nurses

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