Prevalence And Predictors Of Vicarious Trauma Among Oncology Nurses:a Cross-sectional Survey

Objectives:This study aimed to survey the vicarious trauma condition of oncology nurses among 3 A grade Hospital in Changchun city(The capital of Jilin Province)and Ji'nan City(The capital of Shandong Province).Through the investigation,we can summarize predictors of vicarious trauma among oncology nurses.Finally we can put forward reasonable suggestions,and reduce the medical personnel's vicarious trauma.Methods:The duration of this study was from May 2017 to July 2017 in Changchun city and Ji'nan City.A convenience and cluster sample of 200 oncology nurses was used.All of the nurses worked in oncology departments and all of them met the inclusion criteria.The participants completed the demographic questionnaire,the Chinese version of the Professional Quality of Life Scale for Nurses,the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire,the Social Support Scale.SPSS 21.0(IBM Company,Chicago,IL,USA)was used to analyze the data.Descriptive statistics and statistical inference(such as t-tests,one-way analysis of variance and nonparametric test)were used to determine the predictors of the main research variables.Results:1.The mean(SD)scores for the dimensions of compassion satisfaction,burnout and lg(secondary traumatic stress)were 33.70(6.42),25.18(5.44),and1.40(0.10),respectively.When the results of all respondents(n = 200)were aggregated,26.40% of the overall staff scored low for compassion satisfaction,27.92% of staff were at high risk for burnout,and 20.30% were at high risk for Secondary traumatic stress.2.The mean(SD)scores for social support score was 38.78(5.86).The mean(SD)scores for the dimensions of objective support,subjective support and utilization of support were 23.06(4.61),7.81(2.50),and 7.91(1.65),respectively.Overall,approximately 93.40% of oncology nurses reported moderate levels of social support.Compassion satisfaction,burnout and secondary traumatic stress had significant relevance relationships with social support(p < 0.01).3.The mean(SD)scores for positive and negative coping styles was 23.03(4.82)and 9.48(4.49).Overall,approximately 93.40% of oncology nurses reported moderate to high levels of positive coping styles.Overall,approximately 58.38% of oncology nurses reported moderate to high levels of positive coping styles.We found the positive correlation between compassion satisfaction and positive coping style(P < 0.01),the negative correlation between burnout and positive coping style(P < 0.01),and the negative correlation between secondary traumatic stress and positive coping style(P > 0.05).We found the negative correlation between compassion satisfaction and negative coping style(P > 0.05),the positive correlation between burnout and negative coping style(P < 0.01),and the positive correlation between secondary traumatic stress and negative coping style.(P < 0.01)4.There were significant differences in subscale scores for compassion satisfaction associated with the sociodemographic variables,that is,ways of employment,traumatic events,training and occupation reselection(P<0.05).The difference of burnout score in training and occupation reselection was statistically significant(P< 0.05).The difference of secondary traumatic stress score in working life,marital status,ways of employment,and traumatic events was statistically significant(P< 0.05).5.The positive coping style,traumatic events,ways of employment and social support entered into the regression equation of compassion satisfaction,explaining 34.90% of the variance.The positive coping style,negative coping style,occupation reselection and social support entered into the regression equation of burn out,explaining 39.5%of the variance.The negative coping style and social support entered into the regression equation of secondary traumatic stress,explaining 34.2% of the variance.Conclusions:1.Oncology nurses are high risk of vicarious trauma,the majority of nurse is moderate level of social support,mostly nurses is moderate level of the positive coping style,and mostly nurses is moderate level of the negative coping style.2.Ways of employment,traumatic events,training,occupation reselection,working life,marital status,positive coping style,negative coping style,and social support were identified as significant protectors.Ways of employment,occupation reselection,traumatic events,positive coping style,negative coping style and social support were the strongest predictors of compassion satisfaction3.Prevention of vicarious trauma in oncology nurses may include effective clinical supervision,active peer support,specific trauma training and education.