In my master's thesis, I am investigating the phenomenon of compassion fatigue in social workers. I compare social workers who are employed in centres for social work with those who work in non-governmental organizations. I am interested in how they define the term compassion fatigue, whether they have experienced it and how they recognize it. I also want to find out what they think has contributed to compassion fatigue, how they deal with it and what strategies they use to avoid experiencing compassion fatigue again. I also explore the influence and importance of the organization they are employed in on their experience of compassion fatigue. I examine what methods organizations have already implemented to prevent compassion fatigue, how they support their employees, and I look for suggestions from social workers to improve current practices in organizations. The results show that compassion fatigue is a very common problem among social workers in general. The reasons for this are varied, as are the strategies that can help prevent and manage it. The biggest difference between centres for social work and non-governmental organizations can be observed in the organizational aspects. In non-governmental organizations, the social workers surveyed are significantly more satisfied with the support they receive from management, and there are far fewer, if any, suggestions for improvement. In centres for social work, the employees mainly perceive a lack of attention and support from management as well as the need for better work organization
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