Burnout in radiation therapists: the predictive value of selected stressors.
OBJECTIVE
As cancer caregivers, radiation therapists experience a variety of stresses that may develop into burnout, which has been demonstrated to impact patient care, employee health, and organizational effectiveness. The purpose of the study was to assess the levels of radiation therapists' burnout at three stages. Additionally, the ability of selected workplace variables to predict each of the three stages of burnout was examined.


METHODS
We used descriptive and inferential statistical analyses on reliable and valid instruments, which measured stress, burnout, and social support.


RESULTS
Radiation therapists have high levels of the first two stages of burnout: emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Although personal stress, organizational stress, guidance, reassurance of worth, and work load predicted 50% or more of the variance in emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, their predictive ability for personal accomplishment was low.


CONCLUSIONS
Efforts to alleviate burnout among radiation therapists within an organization should have positive effects, including increased quality of patient care, improved quality of work life, higher levels of job satisfaction, and commitment and lower staff turnover.
Akroyd
Duane
D
College of Education and University Planning and Analysis, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
Caison
Amy
A
Adams
Robert D
RD
D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000523:psychology*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D009859:Oncology Nursing; D018787:Radiation Oncology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace