4.2. Professional Quality of Life
traumatic stress
STS
As previously mentioned, professional quality of life encompasses compassion satisfaction, burnout, and STS. A study conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic found that nurse leaders have average scores in these three subdomains [The mean Compassion Satisfaction score increased between baseline (40.91), endpoint (42.82), and one-month follow-up (42.38) among intervention group participants. A “moderate” score in this subdomain is between 23 and 41, while a “high” score is 42 or more. Although unit-based nurse leaders dealt with significant stressors and changes during the pandemic, they also found fulfilling work experiences and outcomes related to interpersonal connection and learning. They reported relating to their staff in new ways, receiving positive feedback from staff, improved communication and delegation skills, and witnessing rewarding patient recoveries [The mean Burnout score on the ProQOL decreased between baseline (23.06), endpoint (21.47), and one-month follow-up (20.97) among intervention group participants. A “low” score in this subdomain is 22 or less, while a “moderate” score in this subdomain is between 23 and 41. Although it is well-established that burnout is caused mostly by environmental factors in the workplace [The unsustainability of the reduction in burnout scores is consistent with the literature on individual-level interventions for burnout [Furthermore, hospital systems can employ chief wellness officers (CWOs) to focus on the quintuple aim, particularly the fourth aim of clinician wellbeing [Although the mean STS score did not change between baseline (24.76) and endpoint (23.76) and remained in the “moderate” range between 23 and 41, it did decrease to 22.91 at the one-month follow-up. Participants in the program received education about the causal factors and symptoms of traumatic stress, as well as skills to cope with severely distressing reactions. Experiential processing allowed participants to approach, rather than avoid, distressing internal experiences (i.e., thoughts, feelings, memories) and use self-compassion, emotion regulation skills, and interpersonal feedback to accept these experiences without being overcome by them [