Relationship Between Liking of Children and Burnout, Compassion Fatigue, Occupational Satisfaction in Pediatric Nurses

Abstract

Nursing, especially pediatric nursing is a profession that can be physically and emotionally taxing. 1 Nurses are among the workers who are at risk of compassion fatigue, burnout, and occupational satisfaction, due to their professional roles, which include working at nights, bearing a heavy workload, always having to ORİJİNAL ARAŞTIRMA ABS TRACT Objective: This study aimed to determine the relationship between the liking of children level of pediatric nurses and their compassion fatigue, burnout and occupational satisfaction levels. Material and Methods: This correlational study was conducted with 536 nurses who worked in the emergency, intensive care and pediatric units of six hospitals in four provinces in western Turkey between January and September 2017. Data were collected using a questionnaire form, the Barnett Liking of Children Scale, and the Professional Quality of Life Scale (burnout, compassion fatigue, and occupational satisfaction subscales). Data collection forms were filled out based on the nurses' self-reports. Data analyses were performed using the descriptive statistics and the Spearman correlation analysis. Results: The participants' mean age was 32±7.40 years, and their liking of children, burnout subscale, compassion fatigue subscale and occupational satisfaction subscale mean scores were 86.51 (min-max=74-94), 24 (min-max=21-29), 24 (min-max=21-28), and 39 (min-max=32-41), respectively. The analyses showed a very weak negative relationship (r=-0.177; p<0.001) between liking of children and compassion fatigue, a weak negative relationship (r=-0.398; p<0.001) between liking of children and burnout, and a positive moderate relationship (r= 0.516; p<0.001) between liking of children and occupational satisfaction. Conclusion: The study found that as pediatric nurses' liking of children scores increased, their occupational satisfaction also increased, and their burnout and compassion fatigue decreased. Support programs may decrease pediatric nurses' burnout and compassion fatigue and increase their occupational satisfaction, thereby increasing their liking of children.