A Heart of Gold to an Iron Fist: Compassion Fatigue and Resiliency

The term “compassion fatigue” was coined in 1995 to describe the emotional exhaustion resulting from continuous care-giving to those in need. While often used synonymously with “burnout,” the two terms are unique. Given the recent spike in sensitivity to mental health well-being, medical professionals are becoming more mindful of compassion fatigue and its impact on themselves, patient safety, professional satisfaction, and personal dealings. Medical literature recognizes the pervasiveness of compassion fatigue throughout the spectrum of health professions, however, most discussions are focused on disciplines other than pharmacy. In a dichotomous era of increased pharmacist involvement in direct patient care and concerns for unmanageable workloads, long hours, and job dissatisfaction, the call for early recognition of compassion fatigue and provision of well-being resources, has come. During this CE activity, pharmacists will learn how to recognize the symptoms of compassion fatigue in themselves, their colleagues, and their trainees, familiarize themselves with practical well-being plans, and formulate ways to establish supportive resources to prevent and handle compassion fatigue within their respective institutions and departments of pharmacy.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, the participant should be able to:

  • Recognize the signs and symptoms of burnout and compassion fatigue.
  • Evaluate the rationale for the importance of compassion fatigue awareness in the pharmacy profession.
  • Design a pragmatic self-care/resiliency schedule to proactively handle compassion fatigue.
  • Propose implementation strategies for a departmental compassion fatigue prevention and mitigation program.

Presenter

Loriel Solodokin, PharmD
Dr. Loriel Solodokin grew up in Brooklyn, NY, and received her Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and Biology and Associate of Arts in Judaic Studies, from Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University, in 2010. She went on to obtain her Doctor of Pharmacy Degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy, in 2014. Being intrigued by clinical pharmacy, Dr. Solodokin pursued her PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency training at New York University Langone Medical Center, in 2015, and ultimately followed her passion for oncology by completing her PGY-2 Oncology Pharmacy Residency at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, in 2016. Dr. Solodokin currently works as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences University School of Pharmacy and her practice site is at the Dana Farber Cancer Center/Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Her professional interests include hematologic malignancies, stem cell transplantation, infectious diseases, supportive care, and academia.

Registration Fee: This module is provided free of charge to all. 

Release Date:
June 23, 2020
Expiration Date: June 23, 2023
ACPE UAN: 0026-0000-20-013-H04-P
ACPE Topic Designator: General Pharmacy
Contact Hours: 1.5 (0.15 CEU)

Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education Logo

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education. Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences designates this educational activity for a total of 1.5 contact hours (0.15 CEUs).

To receive credit, participants must complete pre and post-assessments, view the entire presentation, and evaluate the session. Participant credit will be reported to the CPE Monitor upon conclusion. Transcripts may be printed from the CPE Monitor.

The policy of Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is ensuring balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all of its educational activities. Any individuals involved in planning or content creation for a continuing education activity are required to disclose financial relationships with ineligible companies that have occurred within the last 24 months. The intent of the policy is to identify and mitigate potential conflicts of interest that may affect the activity. All clinical medicine recommendations must be based on evidence accepted within the medical profession.

Loriel Solodokin has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose.

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Continuing Education staff members hold no financial relationships with ineligible companies related to the content of this presentation.

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences will identify, review, and mitigate all conflicts of interest disclosed prior to delivery of an educational activity to learners. Disclosure of a relationship is not intended to suggest or condone bias in any presentation, but provides participants with information that may be of potential importance when they are evaluating content.