{"id":7503,"date":"2022-06-14T15:24:25","date_gmt":"2022-06-14T14:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.devon.gov.uk\/supportforschools\/?page_id=7503"},"modified":"2026-02-24T15:43:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:43:54","slug":"compassion-fatigue","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/send\/areas-of-need\/social-emotional-and-mental-health\/semh-one-minute-guides\/compassion-fatigue\/","title":{"rendered":"One minute guide: Compassion fatigue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column doc-aside is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:25%\">\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><h2>Contents<\/h2><nav><ul><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#what-are-the-signs\">What are the signs?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#short-term-advice-for-school-staff\">Short term advice for school staff<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#longer-term-advice-for-schools\">Longer term advice for schools<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#further-help-support-and-useful-links\">Further help, support and useful links<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n<\/aside>\n\n\n\t<div class=\"dcc-documents-cpt-fixed dccdocs-sticky dccdocs-hidden\">\r\n    <div class=\"grid-container\">\r\n        <div class=\"grid-x grid-margin-x\">\r\n            <div class=\"cell medium-12\">\r\n                <a class=\"back-to-top hide-for-print\" href=\"#content\"><svg class=\"app-c-back-to-top__icon\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"13\" height=\"17\" viewBox=\"0 0 13 17\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M6.5 0L0 6.5 1.4 8l4-4v12.7h2V4l4.3 4L13 6.4z\"><\/path><\/svg> Contents<\/a>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column doc-content is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:75%\">\n<article class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-are-the-signs\">What are the signs?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Physical or emotional exhaustion (or both)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reduced feelings of sympathy or empathy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dreading taking care of someone and feeling guilty about it<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Feeling irritable, angry, or anxious<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Headaches<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Trouble sleeping<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Isolating yourself<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Feeling disconnected<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reduced sense of accomplishment or meaning in the work<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Difficulties in making decisions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Possible impact on your personal life and relationships<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"short-term-advice-for-school-staff\">Short term advice for school staff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Make self care a priority. Taking care of yourself isn\u2019t a luxury. When you\u2019re feeling healthy, you\u2019ll be much more able to support children who need it the most.<br>Find positive ways to cope with stress when at home; take a walk, meditate, watch something funny, take a warm bath, call a friend. Spend time on a hobby or something you enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"longer-term-advice-for-schools\">Longer term advice for schools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Develop stress management approaches across the whole school for example mindfulness, meditation and breathing exercises<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Team working is of utmost importance. When one member of staff is struggling, they may need to take \u2018time out\u2019 and another can then step in<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Consider setting up a \u2018buddy\u2019 system so that staff have someone there who they feel comfortable to check in with on a regular basis<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Seek support from professionals who can offer regular confidential, non-judgmental supervision and support<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Set up a wellbeing display board with space for staff to contribute ideas. Make sure it\u2019s updated regularly<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep staff wellbeing and pastoral care as a high priority, with opportunities for discussion and downtime together<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"further-help-support-and-useful-links\">Further help, support and useful links<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/compassionfatigue.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/happiful.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Happiful Magazine&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.naeyc.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Preventing Compassion Fatigue: Caring for Yourself<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Everyday-Self-Care-little-book-helps\/dp\/1782498877\" rel=\"noopener\">Everyday Self-Care (CICO Books) available from Amazon<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.we.org\/en-GB\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Self Care for the workplace<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/article>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><div class=\"document-meta-acf-block clearfix \" id=\"block_acf-block-699dc73831b95\"><div class=\" dcc-documents-meta\"><div class=\"dcc-documents-widget dcc-documents-widget-block\"><div class=\"dcc-documents-widget-box2\"><p class=\"dcc-documents-published\"><span>Published<\/span> <time datetime=\"2022-06-14T15:24:25+00:00\">14\/06\/2022 3:24pm<\/time><\/p><p class=\"dcc-documents-updated\"><span>Last Updated<\/span> <time datetime=\"2026-02-24T15:43:54+00:00\">24\/02\/2026 3:43pm<\/time><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are the signs? Short term advice for school staff Make self care a priority. Taking care of yourself isn\u2019t a luxury. When you\u2019re feeling [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":981,"featured_media":0,"parent":35747,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"longdocument-template.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-7503","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"updated":null,"dccdocs_documents":null,"section-guidance":"","sections":null},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-12 08:41:58","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/981"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7503"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35763,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7503\/revisions\/35763"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}