Occupational stress amongst audiologists: Compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and burnout

Objective : This study aimed to investigate occupational stress amongst audiologists, along with quantification of their professional quality of life: Burnout, compassion fatigue, and compassion satisfaction. Design : A cross-sectional postal survey research design using an audiology occupational stress questionnaire (AOSQ), and the professional quality of life (ProQOL) instrument. Study sample : The sample consisted of members of the New Zealand Audiological Society. One hundred and forty-five questionnaires were mailed, 82 responses were received. Results : The main findings suggest that six stress factors dominate clinical audiology: (1) time demand, (2) audiological management, (3) patient contact, (4) clinical protocol, (5) patient accountability, and (6) administration or equipment. A significant relationship was found between increasing age of the audiologist and risk of acquiring burnout (chi-square (1) = 6.119, p < 0.05). Pearson's correlation's revealed time demand was the strongest predictor of low compassion satisfaction (r = 0.327) and burnout (r = 0.463), while stress associated with patient contact was the strongest predictor of compassion fatigue (r = 0.352). Conclusions : This study identifies sources of stress for clinical audiologists and different factors that contribute to professional quality of life.