Rural health care worker wellness during COVID-19: Compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction & utilization of wellness resources

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 18; no. 12; p. e0295020
• Main Authors: Bailey, Bridget C, Cox, Stephanie, Terris, Lisa, van Oppen, Dorothy, Howsare, Janie, Berry, James H, Winstanley, Erin L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 08.12.2023; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Anxiety; Care and treatment; Compassion; COVID-19; Data collection; Depression, Mental; Diagnosis; Drug overdose; Epidemics; Fatigue; Food preferences; Health aspects; Health care; Health care expenditures; Health services; Health surveys; Internal medicine; Job performance; Marital status; Medical personnel; Mental depression; Mental health; Mobile restaurants; Pandemics; Patient safety; Patient satisfaction; Practice; Psychiatric services; Quality of life; Resilience; Rural areas; Rural health; Rural health care; Secondary traumatic stress; Surveys; Trucks; Wellness; Workers; United States; West Virginia; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295020

The goal of this study was to identify factors associated with compassion fatigue (CF) and compassion satisfaction (CS) among rural health care workers (HCWs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The secondary purpose was to assess utilization of wellness resources and preferences for new resources. A survey was distributed (October-December 2020) and completed by faculty, clinicians and staff (n = 406) at a rural university. Measures included a modified version of the Professional Quality of Life Scale (PROQOL-21), the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 and the Brief Resilience Coping Scale. Respondents reported their use of wellness resources and their preferences for new resources. The mean CF score was 21.1, the mean CS score was 26.8 and 42.0% screened positive for depression or anxiety. Few of the existing wellness resources were utilized and respondents' preferences for new wellness resources included time off (70.7%), onsite food trucks (43.0%) and support animals (36.5%). Younger age, depression and anxiety were associated with higher CF. Older age, better mental health and resilience were associated with higher CS. Rural HCWs have high CF, yet few utilize wellness resources. Rural health care organizations may foster wellness by providing time off for self-care, expanding mental health services and building resilience.