Prevalence and predictors of compassion fatigue, burnout and compassion satisfaction among oncology nurses: A cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Background: Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. Given the complexity of caring work, recent studies have focused on the professional quality of life of oncology nurses. China, the world's largest developing country, faces heavy burdens of care for cancer patients. Chinese oncology nurses may be encountering the negative side of their professional life. However, studies in this field are scarce, and little is known about the prevalence and predictors of oncology nurses' professional quality of life.

Objectives: To describe and explore the prevalence of predictors of professional quality of life (compassion fatigue, burnout and compassion satisfaction) among Chinese oncology nurses under the guidance of two theoretical models.

Design: A cross-sectional design with a survey.

Settings: Ten tertiary hospitals and five secondary hospitals in Shanghai, China.

Participants: A convenience and cluster sample of 669 oncology nurses was used. All of the nurses worked in oncology departments and had over 1 year of oncology nursing experience. Of the selected nurses, 650 returned valid questionnaires that were used for statistical analyses.

Methods: The participants completed the demographic and work-related questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Professional Quality of Life Scale for Nurses, the Chinese version of the Jefferson Scales of Empathy, the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire, the Perceived Social Support Scale, and the Chinese Big Five Personality Inventory brief version. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, one-way analysis of variance, simple and multiple linear regressions were used to determine the predictors of the main research variables.

Results: Higher compassion fatigue and burnout were found among oncology nurses who had more years of nursing experience, worked in secondary hospitals and adopted passive coping styles. Cognitive empathy, training and support from organizations were identified as significant protectors, and 'perspective taking' was the strongest predictor of compassion satisfaction, explaining 23.0% of the variance. Personality traits of openness and conscientiousness were positively associated with compassion satisfaction, while neuroticism was a negative predictor, accounting for 24.2% and 19.8% of the variance in compassion fatigue and burnout, respectively.

Conclusions: Oncology care has unique features, and oncology nurses may suffer from more work-related stressors compared with other types of nurses. Various predictors can influence the professional quality of life, and some of these should be considered in the Chinese nursing context. The results may provide clues to help nurse administrators identify oncology nurses' vulnerability to compassion fatigue and burnout and develop comprehensive strategies to improve their professional quality of life.

Keywords: Burnout; Compassion fatigue; Compassion satisfaction; Cross-sectional survey; Oncology nurses; Predictors.