title: Personal-professional boundary issues in the satisfaction of rural clinicians recruited from within the community: findings from an exploratory study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this paper is to highlight, from within a broad study of recruitment/retention, findings that identify personal-professional boundaries as key challenges for rural child and youth mental health clinicians recruited from within the community.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two mixed methods online questionnaires followed by semistructured telephone interviews with a small subset of respondents were administered to clinicians, team leaders, supervisors and managers whose practice responsibilities encompass rural settings in three regions of British Columbia, Canada.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-four clinicians and 27 team leaders/managers participated in the survey while eight clinicians and one team leader/manager participated in the semistructured interviews. Half the clinician respondents were recruited from within the community. Of those recruited from outside the community, half had prior experience living or working in a rural community.
  
  
  METHODS
  Levels of satisfaction with lifestyle, practice and preparation for practice were compared across categories of respondents identified earlier. Open-ended comments were coded by theme and also compared across categories of respondents.
  
  
  RESULTS
  While expressing their higher levels of satisfaction with rural lifestyle and professional practice, clinicians recruited from within rural communities report significant initial and ongoing stress related to personal-professional boundaries and dual relationships. They also report lower levels of satisfaction with orientation and preparation for practice relevant to dealing with these stressors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prior attachment to rural communities, increasingly viewed as an effective recruitment and retention strategy, requires better preparation and ongoing supports to enable practitioners to deal with dual relationships and the personal-professional boundary issues that are a direct consequence of their attachments.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. judy.gillespie@ubc.ca
authors.forename: Judy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gillespie
authors.forename: Rhea
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Redivo
mesh_terms: D001955:British Columbia; D003150:Community Health Workers / Q000523:psychology*; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009769:Object Attachment; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010560:Personnel Selection; D019035:Rural Health Services; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires