Z73: Exploring Burnout Among Speech-Language Pathologists in Tennessee

Abstract This study attempts to look at if/how burnout impacts speech-language pathologists (SLP) in the state of Tennessee (TN). Undergraduate students in the communication sciences and disorders program researched current literature and created a Likert-Scale survey with commenting that was collected from TN SLPs via social media. Information was analyzed with a mixed-method study and examined for thematic coding and chi-square analysis to obtain the data results. The three main contributors to TN SLP burnout were identified as caseload, fees to maintain licensure/continuing education, and profession awareness. Although legislation has been passed to support SLPs in TN there is still work to be done to assist in decreasing burnout.