• Amanpreet Kaur, Mahendra P Sharma, and Santosh K Chaturvedi.
• Department of Clinical Psychology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
• Indian J Palliat Care. 2018 Apr 1; 24 (2): 167-172.

ContextBeing a professional care provider at cancer palliative care settings is demanding and stressful. Literature has indicated the prevalence of high burnout (BO) and distress; however, there is a dearth of studies in India, with no study available on professional quality of life in the field of palliative care.AimsThe aim of the present study was to explore the professional quality of life, namely-compassion satisfaction [CS], burnout [BO], and secondary traumatic stress [STS] among professional care providers at cancer palliative care centers.Settings And DesignA cross-sectional, descriptive, and quantitative study was carried out at four cancer palliative care centers in Bengaluru after the permissions and ethical approvals.Subjects And MethodsThe tools used were brief sociodemographic datasheet and professional quality of life (ProQoL)-Version 5 administered with 65 participants (mean age = 32.5 and standard deviation = 11.78) with work experience of at least 6 months.AnalysisA descriptive, correlational, and inferential analysis of the quantitative data was undertaken.ResultsThe results revealed that an average level of CS and BO was reported by 32 (49.2%) and 35 (53.8%) study participants, respectively, while 62 (95.4%) participants reported higher STS on ProQoL scale-Version 5. Significant differences in levels of CS, BO, and STS were found based on additional training taken in palliative care (P = 0.01), designation type (P < 0.001), and workplace type (P = 0.01).ConclusionThe overall results strongly suggest that a short intervention targeting STS and BO can help the study population and further enhance their CS and patient care.

4 keywords...

hide…