Secondary Traumatic Stress in Respiratory Therapists

Abstract

Background:

Secondary traumatic stress (STS), also known as compassion fatigue, is described as a syndrome of symptoms, such as avoidance, intrusions, or arousal, that occur due to having indirect traumatic exposure such as having interactions with persons or patients who are having direct traumatic exposure. Secondary traumatic stress can lead to physical, emotional, and work-related symptoms that can affect patient care and relationships with coworkers and patients. The indirect traumatic exposure is often linked with negative consequences such as higher compassion fatigue, increased negative cognitions about the self and the world, higher job burnout, and lower job satisfaction. Professionals that experience this may believe they can no longer serve their clients or patients and leave their job. The hypothesis for this study is that the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale score will be in the high to severe range for respiratory therapists.

Methods:

The Institutional Review Board of Youngstown State University approved this study. Respiratory Therapists voluntarily took the 'Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale' (STSS) in which consisted of 17 statements. The STSS was used with permission obtained from Brian E. Bride. This STSS was presented to the voluntary participants on a Facebook page called Respiratory Therapy Breakroom which is a private Facebook group for future, present, and past respiratory therapists.

Results:

The hypothesis was rejected. The results indicated that majority of respiratory therapists did not have high or severe STS. There were 432 responses to this survey, and 13 surveys were omitted due to unanswered questions. Forty-five of those participants had a score of <28 resulting in little to no Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS), 110 participants had a score of 28-37 resulting in mild STS, 86 participants had a score of 38-43 resulting in moderate STS, 60 participants had a score of 44-48 resulting in high STS, and 118 participants scored 49 or more resulting in severe STS.

Conclusions:

The results indicated that a respiratory therapist's total STSS score, intrusion average, avoidance average, and arousal average did not increase when compared to the number of years worked.

1. Bride BE, Robinson MR, Yegidis B, Figley CR. Development and validation of the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale. Res Social Work Pract 2004;14:27-35.