Befriending Compassion Fatigue Series

Navigating Compassion Fatigue with Awareness and Self-Care Compassion fatigue affects 40-60% of healthcare workers during their practice. Of those at least 20% will go on to more severe burnout and leave their profession. The medical model would have us believe that it is some sort of illness to be treated and cured. Instead we are all hardwired neurologically to respond in a way that automatically leads to compassion fatigue. Our training education fails to equip us with skills and awareness to manage ourselves in the face of other’s suffering. Rather than fighting or resisting or avoiding compassion fatigue, we must learn first to befriend it and then to learn skills that allow each of us to better manage ourselves while remaining connected and present to those who are suffering.

Course Instructor

Dean Sharpe trained as a general surgeon and worked in private practice from 1980 to 2002. He shifted focus, obtained a Master’s Degree in Health Administration, and became Vice President of Medical Affairs at St. Charles Medical Center for twelve years, sharing this position with his surgical practice from 1994-2002.

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