title: Evaluation of the effect of a 1-day interventional workshop on recovery from job stress for radiation therapists and oncology nurses: A randomised trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cancer care workers experience high levels of occupational stress that can have adverse mental and physical health consequences. Educating health professionals about self-care practices throughout their careers can potentially build resilience. Our study aimed to evaluate the effects of an educational intervention to improve recovery from job stress, increase satisfaction with current self-care practices and improve sleep quality.
  
  
  METHODS
  An equivalent, randomised comparison, pretest-post-test intervention design was used to investigate the effects of a 1-day workshop (plus educational material) compared with written educational material alone, on measures of recovery experiences (i.e. psychological detachment from work, relaxation, mastery experiences and control over leisure), satisfaction with recovery-related self-care practices and perceived sleep quality of 70 cancer care workers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Workshop participants reported greater mean changes 6 weeks post-workshop for total recovery experiences (F(1,69) = 8.145, P = .008), self-care satisfaction (F(1,69) = 8.277, P = .005) and perceived sleep quality (F(1,69) = 9.611, P = .003). There was a decline in the scores of the control group over the 6-week period for all measures. Workshop participants not only avoided this decline, but demonstrated increased mean scores, with a significant main effect 6 weeks post-workshop, compared with the control group (F(3,63) = 4.262, P = .008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A 1-day intervention workshop improved recovery skills, satisfaction with self-care practices and perceived sleep quality of oncology nurses and radiation therapists. Outcomes were enhanced when participants actively participated in experiential group-based learning compared with receiving written material alone. This intervention has the potential to enhance resilience and prevent burnout at different points in a cancer worker's career.
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Anne A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Poulsen
authors.affiliation: Brain-Behaviour Research Group, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Christopher F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Sharpley
authors.affiliation: Mater Centre, Radiation Oncology, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Kathryn C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Baumann
authors.affiliation: Occupational Therapy Private Practice, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.affiliation: Mater Centre, Radiation Oncology, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Poulsen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000488:Allied Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008495:Medical Oncology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011793:Queensland; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000078329:Workforce; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: health education; mind-body therapy; professional burnout; resilience