CARING for people with cancer can be very tough, but how exactly does it affect nurses? Helen Sinclair, of Queen’s University Belfast, found that cancer nurses suffered from “vicarious trauma” — a series of negative changes that result from listening to those who have themselves been traumatised.
Sinclair told a cancer nursing conference, reported in Nursing Standard (Feb 8), that when she was working with oncology patients she became preoccupied with her own health. She also found it difficult to stop thinking about her patients.
Nurses are at risk because, unlike therapists and counsellors, they cannot limit the amount of time that they spend with patients. They may then start to feel alienated from themselves and “even start questioning the meaning of life”.