Job stress, burnout and job satisfaction in staff working with people with intellectual disabilities: community and criminal justice care

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine and compare levels of burnout, traumatic stress and resilience amongst Norwegian nursing care staff in two intellectual disability (ID) services. Design/methodology/approach – This was a cross-sectional survey in which 137 staff completed questionnaires measuring work-related stress, burnout, compassion and resilience. Two groups were compared; staff in the national forensic ID services and staff in the community ID caring services. Findings – Nursing staff in the community ID caring services had significantly more signs of stress and burnout compared to the other group. At the same time they were more compassionate. Originality/value – The different caring cultures examined in this study indicated that the forensic ID staff tended to focus on the physical aspects of the caring role whilst the community ID staff tended to focus on the relational issues. The impact of serious events resulted in a higher level of stress and burnout symptoms, however the community carers showed more compassion to their work.

The Connection between Motivation and Job Significance among Academically Trained Employees: A Case Study of Workers in Out-of-Home Settings

“…Among the topics encountered by caregivers of people with IDD in out-of-home facilities are stress and burnout at work. Indeed, these phenomena have been studied with regard to the work of direct care workers and social workers working with people with disabilities (Søndenaa et al, 2015). Aggressive and challenging behavior, which can be verbal or physical, has been diagnosed as typical of people with disabilities.…”

“…The sense of burnout is characterized mainly by mental fatigue, and this might have a negative impact on the optimal functioning of caregivers at work. This can be manifested in minimal communication with the residents and their depersonalization, low morale, low perceived self-efficacy, a decline in the feeling of personal gratification at work, loss of compassion for the residents, and more (Howard et al, 2009;Søndenaa et al, 2015). Hastings and Brown (2002) showed that the need to constantly contend with people whose behavior is challenging and unexpected might have a negative impact on the psychological well-being of caregivers.…”

“An understanding, a way of life”: An exploration of learning disability professionals’ experiences of compassion

“…The limited literature that does exist indicates that HCPs recognise CC for people with learning disabilities as a tautology (Horsburgh & Ross, 2013); in that case, without compassion is not care at all. A better understanding of HCPs’ experiences of compassion within learning disability services is fundamental, as the people they support require and desire CC (Dodevska & Vassos, 2013), and the impact of work‐related stress and burnout for HCPs is significant within this area of health care (Devereux, Hastings, Noone, Firth, & Totsika, 2009; Søndenaa, Whittington, Lauvrud, & Nonstad, 2015).…”

Promoting satisfaction and reducing fatigue: Understanding the impact of trauma‐informed organizational culture on psychological wellness among Direct Service Providers

“…Professional quality of life has been explored extensively across the helping professions; however, few studies have been conducted in the disability field (Brooker et al, ; Søndenaa, Lauvrud, Sandvik, Nonstad, & Whittington, ; Søndenaa, Whittington, Lauvrud, & Nonstad, ; Stamm, ). Further, the generalization of results from these studies is limited by a lack of specificity regarding type of disability and potential professional and cultural differences (Brooker et al, ; Søndenaa et al, , ).…”

“…Professional quality of life has been explored extensively across the helping professions; however, few studies have been conducted in the disability field (Brooker et al, ; Søndenaa, Lauvrud, Sandvik, Nonstad, & Whittington, ; Søndenaa, Whittington, Lauvrud, & Nonstad, ; Stamm, ). Further, the generalization of results from these studies is limited by a lack of specificity regarding type of disability and potential professional and cultural differences (Brooker et al, ; Søndenaa et al, , ). Nonetheless, professional quality of life has utility in IDD services as it more fully considers the scope of the DSP experiences and complements foci of recent IDD literature, such as a need for greater emphasis on positive aspects of direct support work (Lunsky, Hastings, Hensel, Arenovich, & Dewa, ), and increased attention to trauma (Hensel, Lunsky, & Dewa, ; Keesler, ; Wigham & Emerson, ].…”