Aims:
As part of a Randomised Control Trial (RCT) evaluating Specialist Palliative Community Service (SPCS) delivery models, an evaluation of staff professional quality of life and work experience was undertaken in the context of a clinically embedded research conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods:
A mixed-methods study was undertaken of multidisciplinary staff employed in a SPCS in New South Wales, Australia. This research was part of a single site RCT run between May 2021 and October 2022. All staff employed within SPCS were offered the chance to participate in three time-point surveys using Professional Quality of Life (PROQOL) questionnaire. Survey results were reviewed, analysed and overall descriptive statistics are reported for PROQOL subscales of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and traumatic stress. Staff also participated in focus groups exploring their experience, satisfaction and challenges. This abstract will focus on end of study results.
Results
End of Trial PROQOL was completed by 20 staff. Compassion Satisfaction mean score was 40.4 (SD 5.03) with all respondents in moderate (70%) or high (30%) categories. Burnout mean score was 31.75 (SD 3.30) with all respondents in moderate category. Secondary Trauma mean score was 19.8 (SD 4.7) with all in low (65%) or moderate (35%) category. Overall, four themes were identified in the focus groups: General acceptability of clinically embedded research; burden of responsibility of care; staff understanding of patient and carer experiences, and impacts of COVID pandemic on care delivery.
Conclusion
At study conclusion, while all participants reported moderate levels of burnout, there was reassuringly strong compassion satisfaction with professional roles. The themes identified provide further insight into impacts of embedded research during the volatility of the COVID-19 pandemic.