INTRODUCTION: Although compassionate care is an essential component of mental health nursing, understandings of the impact of compassion fatigue is poorly understood. AIMS/QUESTIONS: To examine and synthesise available data on the prevalence of compassion fatigue within mental health nurses and consider what variables impact compassion fatigue. METHOD: A search of Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, Emcare, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL and grey literature for articles published between 1992 and February 2021 was conducted. Data were extracted from articles meeting inclusion criteria and integrated using narrative synthesis. RESULTS: Twelve articles were included. Prevalence of compassion fatigue ranged from low to high. Variables were identified that may mitigate the risk of compassion fatigue. Strong leadership and positive workplace cultures, clinical supervision, reflection, self-care, and personal well-being may protect mental health nurses against compassion fatigue. DISCUSSION: Future research is needed on mental health nurses lived experience of compassion fatigue and their understandings of compassion. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Interventions should focus on increasing awareness of compassion fatigue and building individual and organisational resilience. Both organisations and individuals should be aware of the role they play in maintaining the capacity and capability for mental health nurses to provide sustainable and compassionate mental healthcare.

Family caregivers play an increasingly important role in providing care services, especially for the aging population. Currently, evidence on compassion fatigue among family caregivers remains limited. Our study aims to assess the levels and related factors of compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction in family caregivers. We searched nine electronic databases for published observational studies up to 7 October 2021. In our studies, the pooled mean scores of compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction were 42.35 (95% CI: 28.45-56.24) and 36.41 (95% CI: 33.63-39.19), respectively. We considered background, role-related, and social psychological variables to influence the risk of compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction. Current data suggest that overall compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction levels were moderate, thus highlighting the potential risk of compassion fatigue for family caregivers. In the future, these findings can be used to develop programs that will mitigate compassion fatigue and improve compassion satisfaction in family caregivers.

OBJECTIVES: To describe and examine the theories, components, and effectiveness of self-management support interventions for individuals experiencing cancer-related fatigue. METHODS: A systematic review was reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 Statement. CINAHL, PubMed, Cochrane CENTRAL, and EMBASE were searched (from inception to June 2021) for randomised controlled trials examining self-management support interventions for managing cancer-related fatigue. Data were screened, extracted, and appraised by two authors. Data extraction was guided by the Self-management Support Taxonomy (i.e., a modified version of the Practical Reviews in Self-Management Support Taxonomy tailored to cancer). The Revised Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was used for study appraisal. A critical narrative synthesis was conducted. RESULTS: Fifty-one papers representing 50 different studies (n = 7383) were identified. Most interventions were delivered post-treatment (40%) using in-person (i.e., 'face-to-face') encounters (40%), and were facilitated by health professionals (62%). A range of intervention approaches and self-management support strategies were used across studies. The average number of Self-management Support Taxonomy components used across studies was 6.1 (of 14). Thirty-one studies (62%) described a specific behavior change theory to guide their self-management support intervention development. Twenty-nine studies (n = 29/50; 58%) reported a positive intervention effect for fatigue immediately post-intervention. Of these 29 studies, 10 (34%) reported at least one sustained positive effect on fatigue over follow-up periods between two and 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Self-management support that is delivered after cancer treatment, facilitated by health professionals, and incorporating at least one in-person contact appears to produce the most favourable fatigue and behavioral outcomes. However, further work is needed to better understand how individual self-management support strategies and the application of a behavioral theory influence behavior change. Program developers should guide self-management support with a behavioral theory, and describe their theory application in intervention development, implementation, and evaluation; ensure facilitators receive adequate support training; and seek the delivery preferences of cancer survivors. Future research should incorporate adequate follow-up to sufficiently evaluate the impact of programs on cancer-related fatigue and associated self-management behaviors. Findings from this review are relevant to all healthcare professionals, but are of most relevance to nurses as the largest cancer care workforce with a key role in delivering self-management support.

OBJECTIVE: To synthesise the existing evidence about the effect of patient education, either used alone or as adjunctive therapy, on the improvement of quality of life, pain and fatigue in adult breast cancer survivors. DATA SOURCES: We searched PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, SCOPUS, Cochrane Plus, PEDro, Dialnet and Clinicaltrials.gov databases. METHODS: We conducted this systematic review in accordance with the PRISMA statement. Only randomised controlled trials with adult breast cancer survivors were included. We assessed the methodological quality of the studies using the PEDro scale and the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. We synthesised evidence using the GRADE tool. RESULTS: We included 14 studies (PEDro 4-8 points) comprising 1749 adult women who survived breast cancer, of which we included 12 in the quantitative analysis. There were statistically significant short-term benefits for improved global quality-of-life (standardised mean difference [SMD] = 0.43, P = 0.05, 95% CI [0.00, 0.85]; GRADE: low certainty; not important), emotional quality-of-life (SMD = 0.32, P = 0.04, 95% CI [0.02, 0.62]) and fatigue (SMD = 0.24, P = 0.0004, 95% CI [0.11, 0.37]; GRADE: low certainty; not important). However, there were not statistically significant for pain severity (SMD = -0.05, P = 0.67, 95% CI [-0.26, 0.17]; GRADE: low certainty; not important) and fear to recurrence (SMD = -0.05, P = 0.68, 95% CI [-0.31, 0.20]; GRADE: moderate certainty; not important). CONCLUSION: Patient education have a significative effect in short-term global quality-of-life, emotional quality-of-life and fatigue, though all the results were classified as 'not important'.

The development of mobile technology and mobile Internet offers new possibilities in rehabilitation and clinical assessment in a longitudinal perspective for multiple sclerosis management. However, because the mobile health applications (mHealth) have only been developed recently, the level of evidence supporting the use of mHealth in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) is currently unclear. Therefore, this review aims to list and describe the different mHealth available for rehabilitation and self-assessment of pwMS and to define the level of evidence supporting these interventions for functioning problems categorized within the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). In total, 36 studies, performed with 22 different mHealth, were included in this review, 30 about rehabilitation and six for self-assessment, representing 3091 patients. For rehabilitation, most of the studies were focusing on cognitive function and fatigue. Concerning the efficacy, we found a small but significant effect of the use of mHealth for cognitive training (Standardized Mean Difference (SMD) = 0.28 [0.12; 0.45]) and moderate effect for fatigue (SMD = 0.61 [0.47; 0.76]). mHealth is a promising tool in pwMS but more studies are needed to validate these solutions in the other ICF categories. More replications studies are also needed as most of the mHealth have only been assessed in one single study.

Abstract Context Patients with advanced-stage cancer often suffer many physical and psychological symptoms. Exercise has been shown to improve quality of life (QoL), decrease cancer-related symptoms, and maintain or improve functional status in cancer survivors or patients with early stage cancer. However, the effect of exercise on these outcomes in patients with advanced-stage cancer is unclear. Objectives This meta-analysis aimed to assess the effectiveness of exercise interventions for patients with advanced-stage cancer in improving cancer-related symptoms and functional status outcomes. Methods We conducted a comprehensive literature search in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Web of Science from their inception to February 3, 2019, to include randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing exercise and usual care for improving outcomes in patients with advanced-stage cancer. Two reviewers independently screened the studies, extracted data of interest, and assessed the risk of bias of individual RCTs using the Cochrane Handbook, Version 5.1.0. Results About 15 RCTs enrolling 1208 patients were included. Compared with usual care, exercise showed a significant improvement in QoL (standardized mean difference [SMD] 0.22; 95% CI 0.06–0.38; P = 0.009), fatigue (SMD −0.25; 95% CI −0.45 to −0.04; P = 0.02), insomnia (SMD −0.36; 95% CI −0.56 to −0.17; P = 0.0002), physical function (SMD 0.22; 95% CI 0.05–0.38; P = 0.009), social function (SMD 0.18; 95% CI 0.02–0.34; P = 0.03), and dyspnea reduction (SMD −0.18; 95% CI −0.34 to −0.01; P = 0.03). Conclusion Exercise serves as an effective intervention to improve QoL and alleviate fatigue, insomnia, dyspnea, and physical and social functions for patients with advanced-stage cancer.

AIMS: A meta-analysis was conducted of the prevalence rates of compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue and burnout to identify the factors influencing these rates. BACKGROUND: The extents of compassion fatigue and burnout adversely affect nursing efficiency. However, the reported prevalence rates vary considerably. METHODS: Data were acquired from electronic databases. Random effects meta-analyses were performed to obtain pooled estimates of the prevalence rates of compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue and burnout and their respective instrumental scores. Meta-regression analyses were performed to identify factors influencing these rates. RESULTS: Data from 21 studies were used for the meta-analysis. The prevalence rates of compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue and burnout were 47.55%, 52.55% and 51.98%, respectively. The possession of Bachelor's or Master's degrees by the nurses was significantly inversely associated with the percent prevalence of compassion fatigue (coefficient: -1.187) and burnout (coefficient: -0.810). The compassion fatigue score was also significantly inversely associated with nursing status as registered or licensed practical nurse (coefficient: -0.135). CONCLUSION: In nursing, the prevalence rates of compassion fatigue and burnout are high. Better education and training may have a moderating effect on compassion fatigue and burnout and could improve the quality of life of nurses.