Abstract
OTs who work with burn survivors are present with day-to-day exposures to people who are often in severe pain or distress. This study is a quantitative analysis of the presentation of compassion fatigue in therapists who treat burn survivors.
Primary Author and Speaker: Miranda Yelvington
Additional Authors and Speakers: Stacey Reynolds
Contributing Authors: Jiale Hu
Rehabilitation professionals are essential in the recovery process of people who sustained burn injuries. Therapy involvement with burn survivors may last for years following their injury, with therapists working in concert with the survivor to obtain maximal functional recovery. Day-to-day exposure to patients who are recovering from major traumas, such as burns, places the treating therapist at risk for the development of compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue represents a set of consequences such as exhaustion, anger, depression, sleep disturbances, or intrusive images experienced by those who provide care and is a direct result of exposure to someone else’s trauma. Repeated exposure to patients who are in severe pain or distress can interfere with the therapist’s ability to provide safe and compassionate care and can negatively affect the therapist’s own quality of life. This cross-sectional study surveyed a national sample of 143 occupational and physical therapists who work with burn survivors using the Professional Quality of Life Scale, Version V (ProQOL). The majority of respondents (98.6%) reported that they often or very often care for people who have experienced a traumatic event. Analysis revealed low to moderate scores in compassion fatigue subscales of burnout and secondary traumatic stress, although some respondents’ scores did edge toward high rates. When analyzing compassion satisfaction, a positive component of professional quality of life, scores were moderate to high. Correlations were discovered with perceived support, years of practicing and some demographic factors. Sustainable professional quality of life is achieved by finding a balance between the positive and negative aspects of caring. Understanding what factors might influence the balance between the positive and negative aspects of caring can provide important data to inform programming that supports this balance and improves therapists’ quality of life and retention.
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