Background: Professions that involve close contact with people leaves workers prone to develop Compassion Fatigue, leaving nurses at risk. This condition arises from encountering the suffering of others and involves a diminished ability to feel empathy.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the consequences of Compassion Fatigue on nurses' ability to provide care.

Method: The method used in the study was literature review, and nine articles were analyzed according to Friberg’s model in four steps.

Results: The analysis of the results resulted in two main themes. The main theme, Personal and professional challenges, revealed that Compassion Fatigue reduced nurses' ability to feel empathy and compassion, and contributed to nurses’ distancing themselves from caring for the patients. The main theme, No longer being able to take responsibility for the care, showed that physical and mental health were affected due to Compassion Fatigue. This resulted in various behaviors and adaptations among nurses to cope with their work.

Conclusion: The consequences of Compassion Fatigue led nurses to experience guilt and shame, to become task-oriented, or to have reduced work engagement. This results in a distortion of the nurse's area of responsibility; thus, Compassion Fatigue has a negative effect on care which ultimately leads to suffering for the patient and healthcare-associated harm. In addition, the consequences also impact society, as deficiencies in social sustainability led to turnover, resulting in economic consequences, and thus reduced economic sustainability.