According to Dr. Noa Román-Muñiz, the first step to understanding compassion fatigue is to have a shared understanding of compassion.

In 2008, Román-Muñiz joined Colorado State University’s Department of Animal Sciences as an Extension dairy specialist. She currently serves as the interim department head for the Department of Agricultural Biology.

“Compassion is really the recognition of suffering. Once we recognize the suffering in someone or something else, we feel empathy or concern for that being. And then, it produces an action in us to relieve that suffering,” Román-Muñiz said.

In the fields of human and veterinary healthcare, “compassion fatigue” is a broad term used to describe occupational stressors unique to healthcare providers – high personal expectations, expectations of supervisors, time constraints, lack of social support and other personal factors. It’s also referred to as the “cost of caring.”

“The way I like to describe compassion fatigue is a chronic imbalance between your job demands and the resources you have to perform your job,” Román-Muñiz said.

While conducting a series of interviews and focus groups with dairy farm workers, Román-Muñiz noticed signs of compassion fatigue among those workers. Similar to the human and veterinary healthcare fields, compassion fatigue in dairy is caused by burnout: feeling overwhelmed, fatigued, emotionally drained and running on empty.

Compassion fatigue can also be caused when a person is exposed to the traumatic experiences of others. This is called secondary trauma.

Román-Muñiz, who led this presentation as part of a Dairy Cattle Welfare Council webinar, asked participants, “Have you seen burnout or compassion fatigue in your coworkers or colleagues, or have you experienced that yourself?” and 96% of the poll participants said yes.

“Dairy workers have told us time and time again that they are stressed. There’s a lack of personnel; the workload and the shift organization might not be the best,” Román-Muñiz said.

The consequences of this fatigue are far-reaching. On a personal level, it can impact a person’s physical, social, emotional and spiritual health. This in turn can impact workers’ productivity, satisfaction and retention.

Specifically, Román-Muñiz’s research has found that on-farm euthanasia decisions create stress for dairy farm workers and likely contribute to compassion fatigue. There are often disconnects and a lack of communication between the dairy “hospital” workers, milkers and supervisors regarding the best course of action for an animal, which creates stress.

She thinks it’s time for all dairy farm stakeholders – workers, supervisors, owners and veterinarians – to recognize and respond to compassion fatigue in the industry.

“It’s here. It will affect people. We can be aware, and we can work to minimize it and pay attention to our team. So, how do we become resilient? How do we minimize the effects of compassion fatigue?” she asked.

Román-Muñiz said addressing compassion fatigue takes a personal and organizational commitment.

On the personal level, one strategy is to develop personal resilience and to understand that building resilience is not an inherent skill. It must be practiced and developed over time. Self-care is one way to build personal resilience.

Social support – building connections with coworkers, family and friends – is very important for developing personal resilience.

“We really need to be aware in terms of self-care. What are the activities that refuel and refresh us? What are our boundaries?” said Román-Muñiz.

On an organization level, Román-Muñiz said the most important thing a supervisor can do to support workers is to reduce workplace stress as it relates to workloads, schedules and supports vs. demands. Workers’ responsibilities should be realistic and manageable.

Another important element in reducing compassion fatigue involves supervisors showing workers through their actions and communications that they care about them. Supervisors should constantly be questioning themselves about how well they are meeting the needs of their workers: Have I provided all the tools and resources people need to do their jobs? Am I showing concern for occupational safety and health? How satisfied are my workers? How is the quality of my communication?

Román-Muñiz thinks that animal welfare practices should be standardized, helping to alleviate stress around euthanasia. “On many farms, there is no dialogue about euthanasia. I’m not saying that everybody on the farm decides, but everybody should understand why we’re doing what we’re doing,” she said.

Providing access and resources related to physical and mental health can also improve organizational resilience. In her research, Román-Muñiz interviewed Colorado farm managers from five dairies about mental health resources available for workers, and not one manager was aware of what resources were available.

“I think we need to normalize seeking help if we need it. Right now, on dairy farms, this is not being talked about,” Román-Muñiz said.

Educational programs, such as a case study workshop on milk fever scenarios, can also build organizational resilience. Similarly, supervisors should seek to cultivate social support networks to reduce a sense of isolation and develop a strong farm culture.

“Some of the better managed dairies that I know do a lot with their labor force and have social gatherings that really promote the idea that you’re not here alone. Even if your family is in a different country, you have a community here,” Román-Muñiz said. If workers feel supported by their peers and supervisors, they will feel less stress.

Román-Muñiz believes that there is a common public misconception that as dairy farms have become larger, the workers experience less of a personal connection with the animals. Her research shows the opposite; dairy farm workers feel a sense of connection and responsibility for the animals they care for.

She also feels that the same level of commitment and care should be provided to these workers.

“Our caretakers love our animals; care about our animals; miss our animals when they’re gone. We need to create a space where they feel comfortable sharing, and they can refresh, and they can understand that compassion fatigue is normal. We can help them with the tools to minimize the effects of it, so that they can keep caring about cows the way they do,” Román-Muñiz said.

by Sonja Heyck-Merlin