Compassion Fatigue Education in Italian Nursing Curricula: A Systematic Gap Analysis Driven by Patient Safety Evidence

Abstract

Introduction. Nurse burnout carries measurable patient safety consequences: Li et al. (JAMA Netw Open 2024; 85 studies; N=288,581 nurses) found SMD=−0.58 for missed care and SMD=−0.68 for safety climate. FNOPI Study BENE (2023) documents 60% burnout prevalence in Italian nurses, with 45.2% intending to leave within 12 months. The structural drivers of this crisis are absent from Italian pre-registration nursing curricula.

Methods. Phase 1: systematic document review of 34 Italian accredited nursing programme curricula (Ministry of Health registry 2022–2024) for compassion fatigue, organisational recognition, and structural burnout content. Phase 2: focus groups with N=18 newly registered Italian nurses; deductive thematic analysis using Honneth's recognition theory framework.

Results. Phase 1 preliminary review of 8 publicly available curricula: empathy-related content present exclusively as generic communication modules (0 curricula included recognition theory or systemic burnout frameworks). Li et al. (2024) demonstrate that systems-level burnout interventions—not individual resilience—drive patient safety improvement.

Discussion. Misidentifying burnout as individual failure obscures the organisational recognition deficit as root cause. Italian nursing curricula incorporating Honneth-informed structural frameworks will produce graduates capable of advocating for systemic changes demonstrated by Li et al. (2024) to protect patient safety.