Supporting social work field instructors: Empowerment as a strategy for preventing burnout

Abstract

Summary: Social work field instructors are integral to social work education and must balance professional responsibilities with supervising students. Empowerment and burnout are concepts that may impact the well-being of social work field instructors. However, few studies have explored empowerment and burnout among this population. This study aimed to a) explore the association between overall empowerment and burnout and b) explore how different elements of empowerment are associated with burnout when controlling for interprofessional work, demographic characteristics, and workplace characteristics. This nonexperimental cross-sectional study utilized primary survey data to examine the association between the Social Worker Empowerment Scale and ProQOL Burnout scores among a sample of social work field instructors (N = 189) of a Mid-Atlantic university. Findings: Preliminary bivariate analysis found a significant negative association between overall empowerment and burnout. Hierarchical linear regression results displayed a significant negative association between burnout and two elements of empowerment: Collective identity and knowledge. One element of empowerment, propensity to act, was found to have a significant positive association with burnout. Years of social work experience and coping on an interprofessional team were found to have significant negative associations with burnout. Applications: Agencies and educational institutions can reduce burnout among field instructors by fostering their sense of connection to the social work profession and ensuring they feel knowledgeable and competent in their role. This can be accomplished through fostering strong relationships and providing ongoing, accessible training to field instructors. More detailed recommendations for reducing burnout by increasing empowerment are provided in the manuscript.

Post-Master’s Career Progression of Social Workers

“…In addition, or as an alternative to part-time teaching in undergraduate and graduate social work programs, later career social workers, like their mid-career counterparts, may choose to give back to the profession by being social work field instructors either in their own private practices and/or in agency settings. Later career social workers are well suited for these roles as research indicates burnout of field instructors is a real concern for the profession (McCarthy et al, 2022). Later career social workers can be better able to balance professional responsibilities with supervising students.…”

A Szociális Munkás Empowerment Skála magyar változatának validálása

“…Kutatásuk legfontosabb eredménye, hogy szignifikáns, negatív asszociáció áll fenn a két jelenség között, ami azt jelenti, hogy minél magasabb empowerment-szinttel rendelkezik egy szakember, annál kevésbé fenyegeti a kiégés veszélye. Az öt dimenzió közül a kollektív identitás, illetve a tudás és készségek gyakorolták a legerőteljesebb hatást (McCarthy et al, 2021).…”

Social Workers in Iceland in the Pandemic: Job Satisfaction, Stress, and Burnout

“…Supervision has been found to be an inverse predictor of stress-related symptoms [25], as well as supportive administration [26] and the practice of mediation [26,27]. In addition, empowerment tends to reduce the level of burnout [28].…”