Date of Graduation

Summer 8-9-2019

Document Access

Project/Capstone - Global access

Degree Name

Master of Science in Behavioral Health (MSBH)

College/School

School of Nursing and Health Professions

First Advisor

Dr. Kelly L'Engle

Second Advisor

Dr. Dorothy Escobar

Abstract

Purpose: Within a rapidly evolving industry, occupational stress and burnout among healthcare clinicians and staff is becoming a pervasive public health crisis across all subspecialties. The purpose of this project was to use the Compassion Satisfaction-Compassion Fatigue (CS-CF) Theory as a method to assess burnout among primary care health professionals, in addition to developing recommendations to assist the promotion of a staff wellness initiative at an urban community clinic.
Methods: A needs assessment was conducted at a Community Health Center (CHC) in San Francisco. Data collection consisted of anonymous distribution of the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) Survey and semi-structured interviews of former CHC staff to further explore causes of occupational stress and to help identify methods for improvement.
Results: Out of the participants who completed the ProQOL survey (n= 31), the average Compassion Satisfaction score was approximately 41.87, indicating high levels of job satisfaction with occupation. Second, the average Burnout was 33.32, indicating a moderate level of occupational stress and burnout. Third, the average Secondary Traumatic Stress score was 19.97, indicating low coping difficulties with secondary exposure to traumatically stressful events at work. Lastly, interview data show both positive and negative themes pertaining to workplace environment at the CHC.
Discussion: ProQOL survey results indicating moderate levels of burnout were supported by the semi-structured interviews, which provided an in-depth perspective towards understanding employee’s perspectives on the CHC workplace. Moving forward, increased focus on building staff engagement through team collaboration is essential to create an effective wellness intervention at the CHC.

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