Compassion fatigue & burnout

Abstract Stress and trauma are ubiquitous parameters of law enforcement and it is highly likely that police officers may experience symptoms of burnout and compassion fatigue. In the present chapter, the authors explore the definition and negative impact of compassion fatigue and burnout on police officers' health, wellbeing, and job performance. The overlap in symptomatology and the distinguishing factors between compassion fatigue and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are also considered. The authors address the stigma associated with an officer's reporting of mental health issues and discuss the maladaptive coping strategies that officers often employ instead of dealing with the experienced issue with adaptive way of coping. While maladaptive coping may suppress issues, those issues remain unresolved and can accumulate over time as officers are continuously exposed to traumatic, critical incidents throughout their careers. Additionally, compassion satisfaction has been reported to decrease amongst officers experiencing high levels of compassion fatigue, whereas burnout has been associated with a decreased sense of personal satisfaction for contributions made in the workplace. The impact of compassion fatigue and burnout are reversible and preventable as long as officers engage in healthy, holistic, and adaptive coping strategies to deal with stressors and traumatic incidents experienced on the job.