Care Aides Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, and Compassion Satisfaction Related to Long-Term Care (LTC) Working Environment

Severe staff shortages, sustained stress, low compassion satisfaction, high compassion fatigue, and serious levels of burnout among healthcare workers were frequently reported during COVID-19. In this cross-sectional study with 760 care aides working in 28 LTC homes in Alberta, Canada, we used a two-level multilevel regression model to examine how working environments were associated with compassion fatigue, burnout, and compassion satisfaction measured with the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL-9) scale. Our findings showed that higher compassion satisfaction and lower burnout were observed when care aides perceived a more supportive working culture. Care aides reported higher compassion fatigue when there was a lack of structural or staffing resources. We also found that perceptions of not having enough staff or enough time to complete tasks were significantly associated with higher levels of burnout. These findings suggest which elements of the working environment may be promising targets for improvement efforts.