If stress continues over a long period of time without effective support, individuals may begin to feel emotionally exhausted. This is often described as burnout or compassion fatigue.

Without effective action to address and reduce burnout and compassion fatigue, staff may find it increasingly difficult to provide the compassionate care that their service users need.

Experiencing some of the following signs can be normal, especially during difficult times. However, if you are noticing that you are experiencing a lot of these it may be a sign of burnout and compassion fatigue.

Please see our top tips to recognise these signs early and adequately protect yourself.

ACKNOWLEDGE

Signs of burnout and compassion fatigue:

• Chronic sleep difficulties

• Finding it hard to remember things you would normally remember

• Feeling physically and emotionally exhausted

• Unclear boundaries between work and personal life

• Experiencing low mood and depression

• Feelings of overwhelming panic

• Feeling less empathy towards others

• Isolating yourself

• Feeling more emotionally reactive than usual

• Heightened feelings of anger, intolerance, or irritability

• Feeling more cynical or sceptical

• Difficulties in relationships

• Experiencing mood swings

• Increased feelings of fear, sadness, or anxiety

• Being more tearful than usual

• Struggling with feelings of helplessness, thoughts of self-harm or not wanting to be here anymore

• Lower self esteem

• Headaches, stomach aches, constipation, diarrhoea

• Overworking and feeling like you are not doing enough

ACT

• Revisit our tips for managing stress and make sure you are implementing as many as possible

• Speak with your supervisor or manager

• Speak to your manager about making changes to your workload to make it more sustainable in the long term

• Develop a work plan to reduce stress

• Ensure you use your annual leave

• Discuss options for taking breaks or extended time off

• Seek professional support for signs of burnout and compassion fatigue, such as consulting a GP, specialist psychological support, referring yourself to occupational health or Employee Assistance Programmes 

• If you are experiencing feelings of helplessness or thoughts of self-harm, seek urgent support. Visit A&E, call 999 or contact a helpline like the NHS Mental Health Crisis Line

ACKNOWLEDGE

• Signs of the above in yourself and your staff team

• If staff are showing signs of lowered empathy or talking in a way that suggests they are feeling more cynical than usual, this could be a sign of burnout and compassion fatigue 

ACT

• If you notice that you may be burnt out or compassion fatigued, follow the top tips for staff above. Remember that you are modelling what you would like the staff team to be doing for themselves

• Talk openly with your team about the possible consequences of the work you do. Normalise the risk of burnout and compassion fatigue, the importance of recognising signs for themselves and how to get help if needed

• If you notice that staff are showing signs of burnout and compassion fatigue, ensure there is time taken to talk to them in a quiet and confidential space 

• Offer them appropriate support

• Support staff to have a manageable workload

• Encourage staff to find time to switch off and maintain healthy boundaries between work and personal life

• Where possible, offer staff extended time off work to recover

• Proactively ask staff if they need urgent help

• Consider signposting to A&E, calling 999 or contacting helplines like the NHS Mental Health Crisis Line