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I was drawn in by the nurse saying it's vital for nurses to empathize for patients. That parents notice, appreciate, and need nurses to cry with them when they lose their baby, or whatever other horrible thing happens. Not feeling alone, and knowing someone cared about your child, helps. I can't imagine feeling that pain, but it'd be worse being alone in that.

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So many different responsibilities and expectations come with being a Professional Caregiver, and many of these responsibilities are still hidden within the shadows. This includes the idea of empathy and the consequences that come along with it. As to how it relates to my image, I am not completely sure yet, but these types of professional caregivers are not as common in rural areas, as they may be overworked and less connected to the people they are caring for, and may result in higher police brutality due to the lack of empathy, or the denial of medical services.

Quote: “I was always taught that you couldn't feel other people's emotions... And it's a wide range of emotions that come along with trauma. So fear, anger, rage, shame, despair, grief, all those feelings are all part of trauma and exposure to toxic stress.” (approximately 10 mins)

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The portraits of caregiving film highlighted the the emotional toll on caregivers and the secondary stress that is inflicted on them as a result of other people's trauma. While it shows these people's overwhelming capacity of empathy and compassion, it also sheds light on the inner struggle that comes with these traits. Relating to the children's bureau established in 1912, it underscores the historical context of evolving support structures for caregivers and the recognition on the impact on those caring for vulnerable populations.

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The voice and perspective that related to my image was the neonatal nurse. She gave the view behind the curtains, that caregivers and nurses feel the loss of their patients, and they have been told not to show it, to hide it from the families. I really liked when she said "I've had parents say to me throughout the years of babies that have died or even babies that have had a big downfall and survived. It was so nice to know that the nurses loved my baby enough to cry with us. I could tell the nurses loved my baby because they cried too." It showed how the caregiving field does not need to be 100% professional 100% of the time, and that was an interesting voice to hear. It made me think back to my experiences with health care professionals and how the best memories were what I could tell the person cared and wasn't just going through the emotions.

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The secondary stress that caregivers experience stood out to me. Before watching this video I did not consider the trauma and emotional weight these high stress jobs carry. The story of the social worker who lost a child to gun violence was especially representative of the complexities of caregiver vulnerability. Her loss of a young boy who she considered as her own child was so great that she was consumed by a deep depression, for multiple years. She reflected the humanity and care with her soul searching question of "what if", that is needed in social services and healthcare.

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Portraits of Professional CAREgivers paints a dire picture of the complex issues that caregivers (doctors, nurses, first responders, social-workers, fighter-fighters) have with their mental health when dealing with patient's going through trauma and other issues. The perspective that interested me the most was when Charles Figley, professor at Tulane University's school of social work, spoke about how a way to combat the stigmatization of talking about mental illness, especially in fields such as the police-force, is by having a mentor figure that's from that caregiving community, who can lead by example and be a resource to those other caregivers to open about their struggles with dealing with traumatic events on a daily basis. The video also made me think about what balancing providing empathy to your patient while keeping a professional boundary looked like. Caregiving in itself is a profession is a field where you have to open yourself up, and give emotional support in addition to medical support to your patient. But like many of the speakers in the video mentioned, it's impossible to keep a complete emotional barrier between you and what your patient might be going through. So it makes me wonder what the ideal balance between providing your patients with empathy, while also making sure you personally don't rust out- because as the video warned, "rusting out" might lead you to end up looking at the medical system with cynicism, which might prevent the quality of your work as a caregiver.

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Something that stood out to me in relation to the image that I chose was the concept of secondary trauma and the emotional strain that care work can place on the care worker. The aspect of pressure and making a mistake that can jeopardize the well-being of someone you are caring for, even if you do not have a personal bond with them can take a huge toll on the care taker, which is why the emphasis on recognizing this seemed very relevant to me. Furthermore, the concept of taking care of yourself in order to better take care of their patients is very relevant to the AIDS crisis as the most effective way to care for the sick as a profession or for personal compassion and companionship is to ensure that the caretaker is protected and remains healthy too.

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Capacity for Care - The Trauma and One's Innate Abilities

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Capacity for Care - The Trauma and One's Innate Abilities

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Humans are highly emotional beings - our programmed sociability and capacity for compassion and empathy leaves us open and vulnerable to the impact of experiences outside of our own. Recent research has shown that through listening, empathizing, and helping others with their own trauma, people can develop secondary-trauma. The phenomenon is partially visible within healthcare providers, first-responders, and caregivers. The nature of the job requires intellectual skills and abilities, but equally humanistic components of empathy and kindness. Despite the intrinsic beauty and value of such a profession, they can wear down on the wellness and stability of a person.

Peter Yeomans, PHD, a clinical psychologist specialized in veterans mental health, developed similar symptoms to those of his patients who experienced post war PTSD. After hearing and aiding so many war veterans, his mind developed its own fears and trauma response to the stories which it heard. Yeomans experienced vivid and traumatic dreams of war - “ I’ve had dreams of war, war that I have never actually seen with my own eyes.” By sympathizing and helping patients through their own traumas, Yeoman's body morphed experiences which were not his own. Recognizing his own mental health state, Yeonas had to offer his body and mind the same compassion which he offered his patients.

To what extent should caregivers extend themselves to the service of others? Does the suffering of a single individual ever outweigh the benefit of helping so many others? Does the ability to “absorb” the trauma of someone else account for why humans are capable of such deep compassion, care, and love?

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I was very surprised to hear the other side of the story when it comes to healthcare. I have never thought how hard a case can impact someone's mind and how hard it must be to try and disconnect from a case and go back to your normal life. I believe that one of the reasons that the healthcare system in Romania may be overwhelmed is that there are not enough passionate healthcare workers who are willing to make these personal sacrifices.

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Most of the time when it comes to caregiving, we think about the difficulties, pains, depression and transformation a patient can experience during her or his journey, but we never think about the trauma and stress that caregivers can experience during their jobs. Portraits of Professional Caregivers: Their Passion, a documentary film, shows the emotional costs experienced by professional caregivers, such as nurses, social workers, clinical psychologists, doctors, and firefighters. There were interviews with caregivers who share their own remarkable and often painful stories, revealing the hidden vulnerability and exposure that comes with empathic caregiving.

The film explores how compassion fatigue, also known as secondary traumatic stress or vicarious trauma, can develop in caregivers who are exposed to the trauma of their patients and clients daily which can lead to a range of negative consequences, including emotional exhaustion, detachment, and difficulty coping with the demands of the job. But, we all these challenges, the film highlights the high levels of career satisfaction and professional meaning that many caregivers experience. They are drawn to their work by a deep desire to help others, and they find great fulfillment in knowing that they are making a difference in people's lives.

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One perspective that really interested me was the one of the teacher, child welfare worker. One of her students had been shot and died on their way to the store and she had been dealing with a lot of self-blame since she sent them to the store. I find this very interesting because I can see how easy it is to blame her for that and as she mentions in the documentary the family does initially blame her, but after a while, they forgive her and present her with a shirt giving her closure.  She of course could not have known what was happening outside and this event heavily impacted her too. This is something that generally gets very easily overviewed because everyone is quick to think of the family, but this woman had a very close connection with the child too. She mentions how it took her two years to deal with the trauma and how she cannot go back to working with children due to self-blame, which makes me think about what her next steps are, and whether she continued working, or if not, what does she do. This raises the question if death fits into the idea of compassion satisfaction outweighing compassion fatigue, or if after a death people's views of their jobs are just permanently altered and compassion satisfaction isn’t as rewarding.

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I found the perspective where someone mentioned that they thought they could not be affected by others emotions very interesting. The people that are mentally and physically ill are made sure to be checked in as well as their loved ones, but those actually taking care of them aren't looked after. Being a caregiver such as a firefighter, police officer, first-responders, therapists, doctors and others you see this death, dying, mental trauma and other tragic events over and over again. They do not always want to recognize the toll that secondary trauma takes on them day after day. These caregivers have a job with a higher suicide rate and do not always like to admit when they are down or struggling.  Many of these workers also lose their coworkers and friends and one of them says they just think others have it worse and don't let themselves be as vulnerable.