The Mediating and Moderating Effects of Job Satisfaction, Burnout, and Compassion Fatigue, Through the Lens of the CFRM

This study explored the relationship between job satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and burnout. The theoretical framework of the compassion fatigue resilience model was also used to analyze the variables of self-care, social support, compassion satisfaction, and detachment. This quantitative study used a self-reporting survey design to examine the rate at which job satisfaction mediates the relationship between compassion fatigue and burnout; as well as; the rate at which the following variables of self-care, social support, compassion satisfaction, and detachment, moderate the relationship between compassion fatigue and burnout. The anonymous survey results were analyzed using moderation and mediation analyses. The findings for the sample of 48 health insurance workers showed that job satisfaction was a significant mediator in the relationship between compassion fatigue and burnout. It was also found that none of the variables, self-care, social support, compassion satisfaction, and detachment, significantly moderated the relationship between compassion fatigue and burnout. Based on the results, health insurance employees within the Eastern United States that reported high job satisfaction, also reported low levels of compassion fatigue. Limitations for the current study are low generalizability and self-reporting bias. Recommendations for future research are replicated within a larger sample, and considering the current moderators (social support, compassion satisfaction, self-care, and detachment) as mediators of the relationship between compassion fatigue and burnout, consider a qualitative research design, analyzing the direct effects of the variables, or the potential impact of separate sources of social support.