Mindful Self-Care and Secondary Traumatic Stress Mediate a Relationship Between Compassion Satisfaction and Burnout Risk Among Hospice Care Professionals

Background: Effective self-care in hospice is anecdotally proclaimed to reduce burnout risk. Yet, the topic has received little empirical attention. Purpose: This study developed a model for predicting burnout risk from compassion satisfaction (CS), secondary traumatic stress (STS), and mindful self-care. Participants: Hospice care professionals (n = 324). Design: Cross-sectional self-report survey. Results: Mindful self-care was correlated with CS (r = 0.497, p < .01), Burnout (r = -0.726, p < .01), and STS (r = -0.276, p < .01). A multiple regression model indicated that the combined effect of CS, STS, and mindful self-care explained 73.7% of the variance in Burnout. Mindful self-care and STS mediated a relationship between CS and Burnout. Each self-care category was statistically significant protective factors against burnout risk (p < .01). Associations with Burnout in order of strength were self-compassion and purpose (SC; r = -0.673), supportive structure (SS; r = -0.650), mindful self-awareness (MS; r = -0.642), mindful relaxation (MR; r = -0.531), supportive relationships (SR; r = -0.503), and physical care (PC; r = -0.435). However, for STS, only SS (r = -0.407, p < .01) and MR (r = -0.285, p < .05) were statistically significant protective factors. Conclusion: Hospice care professional had higher self-care, CS, lower STS, and Burnout compared to published norms. Those who engaged in multiple and frequent self-care strategies experienced higher professional quality of life. Implications for hospice providers and suggestions for future research are discussed.