Abstract
Background:Stress, and particularly burnout, is a major problem among healthcare workers and can lead to high staff turnover and low patient/client satisfaction.Objective:To explore the impact of 3-day compassion-focused therapy training on those delivering education to healthcare students. The underpinning premise was that the training course could potentially be replicated through the participants’ work with students embarking on a career within the helping professions.Design:Mixed-methods study, with the qualitative findings being presented in this paper.Setting:Training course was delivered in one higher education institution in England.Methods:In total, 44 healthcare lecturers attended the course, with 6 taking part in a reflective focus group.Findings:The analysis highlighted four main themes: reassurance and increased knowledge, increased compassion towards others, self-compassion and empathy, and blocks to compassion.Conclusion:Findings add to previous quantitative research findings showing that participants who undertook training were able to engage with their compassionate self and consider the importance of showing compassion towards the self and others in healthcare education.
Highlights
Workplace stress is high in the healthcare workforce and has been associated with poor mental and physical well-being, increased staff turnover and compromised quality of care (Alenezi et al, 2019; Burton et al, 2017)
One approach to reducing stress is through cultivating self-compassion – compassion being a central concept within healthcare practice and a core value for those delivering care (Beaumont et al, 2016a)
This paper reports on findings from a course evaluation for health educators introduced to compassion-focused therapy (CFT) in a university setting
Summary
Workplace stress is high in the healthcare workforce and has been associated with poor mental and physical well-being, increased staff turnover and compromised quality of care (Alenezi et al, 2019; Burton et al, 2017). One approach to reducing stress is through cultivating self-compassion – compassion being a central concept within healthcare practice and a core value for those delivering care (Beaumont et al, 2016a). Lecturers with higher levels of self-compassion have been found to be more compassionate towards others (Gustin and Wagner, 2013). This paper reports on findings from a course evaluation for health educators introduced to compassion-focused therapy (CFT) in a university setting. Objective: To explore the impact of 3-day compassion-focused therapy training on those delivering education to healthcare students. Setting: Training course was delivered in one higher education institution in England. Conclusion: Findings add to previous quantitative research findings showing that participants who undertook training were able to engage with their compassionate self and consider the importance of showing compassion towards the self and others in healthcare education
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