Igor Portoghese1, Maura Galletta2, Philip Larkin3, Salvatore Sardo1, Marcello Campagna1, Gabriele Finco1, Ernesto D'Aloja1. 1. Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, SS554 bivio per Sestu, 09042, Monserrato, CA, Italy. 2. Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, SS554 bivio per Sestu, 09042, Monserrato, CA, Italy. maura.galletta@gmail.com. 3. UNIL | Université de Lausanne, CHUV | Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hospice workers are required to regularly use emotional regulation strategies in an attempt to encourage and sustain terminally ill patients and families. Daily emotional regulation in reaction to constantly watching suffering patients may be intensified among those hospice professionals who have high levels of compassion fatigue. The main object of this study was to examine the relationship between daily exposition to seeing patient suffering and daily emotional work, and to assess whether compassion fatigue (secondary traumatic stress and burnout) buffers this relationship. METHODS: We used a diary research design for collecting daily fluctuations in seeing patients suffering and emotional work display. Participants filled in a general survey and daily survey over a period of eight consecutive workdays. A total of 39 hospice professionals from two Italian hospices participated in the study. RESULTS: Multilevel analyses demonstrated that daily fluctuations in seeing patients suffering was positively related to daily emotional work display after controlling for daily death of patients. Moreover, considering previous levels of compassion fatigue, a buffering effect of high burnout on seeing patients suffering - daily emotional work display relationship was found. CONCLUSIONS: A central finding of our study is that fluctuations in daily witness of patients suffering are positively related to daily use of positive emotional regulations. Further, our results show that burnout buffers this relationship such that hospice professionals with high burnout use more emotional display in days where they recurrently witness patients suffering.
BACKGROUND: Hospice workers are required to regularly use emotional regulation strategies in an attempt to encourage and sustain terminally ill patients and families. Daily emotional regulation in reaction to constantly watching suffering patients may be intensified among those hospice professionals who have high levels of compassion fatigue. The main object of this study was to examine the relationship between daily exposition to seeing patient suffering and daily emotional work, and to assess whether compassion fatigue (secondary traumatic stress and burnout) buffers this relationship. METHODS: We used a diary research design for collecting daily fluctuations in seeing patients suffering and emotional work display. Participants filled in a general survey and daily survey over a period of eight consecutive workdays. A total of 39 hospice professionals from two Italian hospices participated in the study. RESULTS: Multilevel analyses demonstrated that daily fluctuations in seeing patients suffering was positively related to daily emotional work display after controlling for daily death of patients. Moreover, considering previous levels of compassion fatigue, a buffering effect of high burnout on seeing patients suffering - daily emotional work display relationship was found. CONCLUSIONS: A central finding of our study is that fluctuations in daily witness of patients suffering are positively related to daily use of positive emotional regulations. Further, our results show that burnout buffers this relationship such that hospice professionals with high burnout use more emotional display in days where they recurrently witness patients suffering.
Authors: Igor Portoghese; Federico Meloni; Maura Galletta; Ilenia Piras; Ernesto D'Aloja; Gabriele Finco; Marcello Campagna Journal: J Prim Care Community Health Date: 2021 Jan-Dec
Authors: Maura Galletta; Ilenia Piras; Gabriele Finco; Federico Meloni; Ernesto D'Aloja; Paolo Contu; Marcello Campagna; Igor Portoghese Journal: Front Public Health Date: 2021-05-26