Moral sensitivity, spiritual care perception, and compassion fatigue of nurses caring for earthquake victims.

Background: Two major earthquakes occurred within 10 hours in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, 2023, which resulted in thousands of deaths and injured people within Turkey.

Aim: To determine the relationship between moral sensitivity, spiritual care perception, and compassion fatigue among nurses caring for earthquake victims.

Methods: The study population consisted of 483 nurses working in public, private, and university hospitals in earthquake-affected areas in Turkey. The sociodemographic characteristics form, moral sensitivity questionnaire, spirituality and spiritual care rating scale, and compassion fatigue short scale were used for data collection.

Results: There was a statistically significant negative relationship between nurses' moral sensitivity and compassion fatigue; in other words, as compassion fatigue increases, nurses' moral sensitivity decreases. A statistically significant negative relationship was found between nurses' perception of spiritual care and their compassion fatigue; in other words, as compassion fatigue increases, nurses' perception of spirituality and spiritual care decreases.

Conclusion: This study provides valuable insights into moral sensitivity, perceptions of spiritual care, and compassion fatigue among nurses caring for earthquake victims.

Implications for nursing and health policy: Minimizing nurses' compassion fatigue improves quality patient care, increases patient and employee satisfaction, and maintains commitment to the profession. To achieve this goal, it is essential to offer in-service training, conferences, or seminar programs to nurses focused on fostering a sense of compassion. Nurses should be provided with environments that will improve their self-care, and institutional policies and strategies should be developed to cope effectively with this situation.