Abstract
IntroductionProfessional quality of life (ProQOL) that encompasses compassion satisfaction (CS) and compassion fatigue (CF) comprised of burnout (BO) and secondary traumatic stress (STS) has been raised as a world-wide issue for the nursing profession. Limited attention has been paid to the vulnerabilities of nursing students to ProQOL and the associated mechanisms.PurposeDetermine what factors are predictive of ProQOL in a population of undergraduate nursing and psychiatric nursing students. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted comprised demographic questions and four validated measures: the Professional Quality of Life Scale (version 5), Core Self-Evaluations Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, and Life Events Checklist (version 5).ResultsStudents in long-term care-palliative care rotations reported significantly higher levels of BO in comparison to other care areas. Regression analysis revealed students with low self-efficacy and high perceived stress were predictive of BO. Students with increased exposures to prior traumatizing life events were predictive of STS. Students with high levels of self-efficacy and less intent-to-leave were predictive of having CS.ConclusionFindings assist educators, clinicians, and policy makers in understanding at-risk clinical settings and predictors of ProQOL in pre-licensure students. Curricular recommendations that include mindfulness, coping and crisis peer-debriefing, and emotional intelligence are discussed.
Highlights
Professional quality of life (ProQOL) that encompasses compassion satisfaction (CS) and compassion fatigue (CF) comprised of burnout (BO) and secondary traumatic stress (STS) has been raised as a world-wide issue for the nursing profession
The survey was comprised of demographic questions and four validated measures in a population of students enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Psychiatric nursing (BScPN) and Bachelor of Nursing (BN) programs within years two, three, and four at western Canadian university
The study findings revealed that students entering the BN and BScPN programs may not be prepared to face the stressors encountered during care provision
Summary
Professional quality of life (ProQOL) that encompasses compassion satisfaction (CS) and compassion fatigue (CF) comprised of burnout (BO) and secondary traumatic stress (STS) has been raised as a world-wide issue for the nursing profession. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) and the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN), a core essential of professional nursing education is the provision of competent, safe, ethical, and compassionate care delivery provided by the student nurse that is learned in baccalaureate education (AACN, 2008; CASN, 2015). CS results from a transactional dynamic understood as the positive effects or ‘payments’ one gains as a result of caregiving, despite the ‘cost’ of helping others (Stamm, 2002) This is akin to Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) theory of stress, appraisal, and coping where stress results from perceived imbalances between demands of a situation and the availability of resources to cope. The transactional nature of CS is evident in studies of nursing students who reported that CS is greater than CF (Mason & Nel, 2012; Mathias & Wentzel, 2017)
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