Compassion and decision fatigue among healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic in a Colombian sample
Abstract
Being compassionate and empathic while making rational decisions is expected from
healthcare workers across different contexts. But the daily challenges that these workers
face, aggravated by the recent COVID-19 crisis, can give rise to compassion and decision
fatigue, which affects not only their ability to meet these expectations but has a significant
negative impact on their wellbeing. Hence, it is vital to identify factors associated to their
exhaustion. Here, we sought to describe levels of compassion and decision fatigue during
the pandemic, and to identify factors related to these forms of exhaustion. We collected data
using self-reported questionnaires to measure compassion fatigue, decision fatigue, and
grit in five intervals from April to November, 2020 (N = 856). Our results showed a negative
correlation between grit and compassion and decision fatigue. We also found that under the
circumstances studied grit tends to be higher in technicians, nurses, other professionals
(psychologists, social workers), and workers at the Emergency Room (ER), and lower in
general practitioners. Compassion fatigue tend to be higher for technicians, whereas decision
fatigue was lower for specialists, general practitioners, and technicians, and higher for
those working at private hospitals.