• Michael S Severn, Grant D Searchfield, and Peter Huggard.
• Section of Audiology, The Goodfellow Unit of the Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, School of Population Health, The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
• Int J Audiol. 2012 Jan 1;51(1):3-9.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate occupational stress amongst audiologists, along with quantification of their professional quality of life: Burnout, compassion fatigue, and compassion satisfaction.DesignA cross-sectional postal survey research design using an audiology occupational stress questionnaire (AOSQ), and the professional quality of life (ProQOL) instrument.Study SampleThe sample consisted of members of the New Zealand Audiological Society. One hundred and forty-five questionnaires were mailed, 82 responses were received.ResultsThe main findings suggest that six stress factors dominate clinical audiology: (1) time demand, (2) audiological management, (3) patient contact, (4) clinical protocol, (5) patient accountability, and (6) administration or equipment. A significant relationship was found between increasing age of the audiologist and risk of acquiring burnout (chi-square (1)=6.119, p<0.05). Pearson's correlation's revealed time demand was the strongest predictor of low compassion satisfaction (r=0.327) and burnout (r=0.463), while stress associated with patient contact was the strongest predictor of compassion fatigue (r=0.352).ConclusionsThis study identifies sources of stress for clinical audiologists and different factors that contribute to professional quality of life.

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