Compassion fatigue is best described as weakness in which domains due to trauma and work difficulties?

• A. Emotional, physical, spiritual
• B. Financial, legal, marketing
• C. Cognitive, social, environmental
• D. None of the above

Answer: (A)

Compassion fatigue shows up as a depletion that touches feelings, energy, and meaning in care work. The best way to describe it is as weakness in emotional, physical, and spiritual domains. Emotionally, caregivers may feel overwhelmed, detached, or lose empathy toward patients. Physically, fatigue can show up as persistent tiredness, sleep problems, or somatic symptoms. Spiritually, there can be a crisis of meaning, reduced purpose, or doubt about one's beliefs and values in the context of caregiving. The other groupings—financial, legal, marketing; or cognitive, social, environmental—do not capture the core way compassion fatigue is conceptualized, which centers on these three intertwined domains.