| This correlational quantitative research investigated to what extent, if any, a correlation between reported compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress of individual hospice employees and the number of patient deaths experienced in a 14-day period. The theoretical framework included the Job Demands-Resource Model. Data were collected via SurveyMonkey RTM from 117 hospice employees (registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, nursing assistants or certified nursing assistants, social workers, and chaplains) from for-profit and not-for-profit hospice companies across the United States. Spearman Correlation were computed to test the hypotheses. The results of the bivariate correlation indicated the number of deaths individual hospice employees experience have no significant correlation on compassion satisfaction (r = --0.124, p >.05) and secondary traumatic stress (r = -0.005, p >.05), but has a positive and significant correlation on burnout ( r = 0.261, p < .005). Overall, the results indicate that as deaths experienced increased, burnout tends to increase. The lack of correlation between number of deaths experienced and levels of compassion satisfaction and levels of secondary traumatic stress suggests hospice employees generally acquire satisfaction from their work and have natural mechanisms to avoid reliving the patient's life experiences. These findings have implications for future research on the importance of understanding how the number of patient deaths relates to the hospice employees' psychological impact, to maintain hospice employees, and ensure quality of care for years to come. |
