Qualitative study reveals compassion fatigue among an interdisciplinary team caring for children, indicating a need for better support.
Objective: To investigate the suffering of healthcare professionals who work in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children and adolescents. Method: Qualitative study, inspired by Convergent Care Research, carried out in a transplant unit of a hospital in southern Brazil. Ten professionals from the interdisciplinary team, intentionally selected, participated. The information was collected between May and August 2023, using the Sensitive Creative Method through the “tree of knowledge” dynamic, consisting of four meetings with two to three participants. Initially, the professionals reflected and shared emotional experiences related to work. Afterwards, they discussed the essential characteristics of those who care for children and adolescents undergoing bone marrow transplants, through collective artistic production. The analysis was guided by the perspective of quality of work life. Results: Emotions such as sadness and hopelessness emerged, indicating the presence of compassion fatigue. Two thematic axes were identified: quality of work life, empathy, compassion, and compassion fatigue; and being a professional in the context of transplants. Conclusion: Worker suffering is aggravated by the lack of institutional support. Even so, the care provided is supported by empathy and compassion, revealing efforts by professionals to reframe challenging experiences.
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Silva et al. (2025) studied this question.
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