Reducing Burnout and Promoting Professional Development in the Palliative Care Service

Area of Science:

• Palliative Care
• Healthcare Provider Well-being
• Occupational Health Psychology

Background:

• Healthcare providers in palliative care face high stress and burnout risk.
• Few interventions have been studied to prevent burnout in this population.
• Time away for wellness activities is supported by research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of monthly professional development days on palliative care advanced practice providers.
• To measure changes in burnout, compassion satisfaction, and secondary trauma.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study implemented monthly 8-hour remote professional development days.
• The Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) was administered pre- and post-intervention.
• Qualitative feedback was collected from participants.

Main Results:

• The intervention led to decreased burnout.
• Compassion satisfaction significantly improved.
• Secondary trauma impact was reduced among the providers.

Conclusions:

• Monthly professional development days are an effective intervention for reducing burnout in palliative care providers.
• This strategy should be expanded to support healthcare providers at high risk for burnout.
• Further research into burnout prevention methods for this population is recommended.