Which nursing specialties are at increased risk for compassion fatigue?

• A. Pediatrics, dermatology, and obstetrics.
• B. Orthopedics, ophthalmology, and radiology.
• C. Emergency room, critical care, and end-of-life care specialties.
• D. Family practice, community health, and school nursing.

Answer: (C)

Compassion fatigue comes from being repeatedly exposed to others’ trauma, suffering, and death, plus the emotional weight of supporting families through those experiences. Settings with the highest risk are those with frequent life-and-death situations, intense emotional demand, and continuous exposure to critically ill patients and dying individuals. In the emergency department, the pace is fast, injuries are often severe, and clinicians confront sudden crises and traumatic events. In the intensive care unit, patients are critically ill, require invasive, life-sustaining care, and mortality is a common occurrence, all of which create ongoing ethical and emotional strain for nurses. In end-of-life and palliative care, the focus is on comfort care and supporting families as death approaches, which involves deep emotional engagement, continuous witnessing of decline, and regular conversations about prognosis, all contributing to fatigue.

Other specialties tend to involve more predictable trajectories, less frequent exposure to acute trauma, or shorter-term emotional involvement, so while compassion fatigue can still occur, the overall risk is comparatively lower.