Although previous research has established that therapists who work with sexually-abused children experience symptoms of vicarious trauma, few studies have addressed the process by which the therapist is affected. In order to understand therapists' personal experiences and how working with sexually-abused children impacts them in their personal lives, the researcher interviewed therapists who were currently working with this specific population. Data analysis was completed by using ethnographic research methods and three major themes emerged during the interviews. The first theme included the "job characteristics" inherent in working with sexually-abused children. This theme refers to how the therapists entered the field of therapy, why they wanted to become therapists, and how they began working with children who had been sexually-abused. The subjects also referred to both the challenges and rewards that came from working with sexually-abused children. The second theme that emerged was the impact of working with sexually-abused children on the therapist's personal and professional life. Therapists also talked about how this work affected their view of the world and their relationships with other people. The third theme included coping with stresses associated with working with sexually-abused children. Therapists spoke about ways they individually coped with the stress and how the agency as an organization helped the therapists cope as well. Recommendations for therapists in this field are given and future research is discussed. Implications for clinical practice, training, supervision and structuring agencies are included.

Electronic health records (EHRs) led to improvements in patient safety, care delivery, and efficiency; however, they have also resulted in significant increases in documentation time. EHR documentation burden, defined as “added work (e.g., documentation) or extraneous actions (e.g., clicks) performed in the EHR beyond that which is required for good clinical care”, has been linked to increased medical errors, poorer patient outcomes, reduced care quality, cognitive overload, and ultimately, burnout among clinicians. Relative to other clinical practice settings where patient flows are more predictable and of lower intensity, emergency department (ED) clinicians report markedly higher workload. Furthermore, EHR implementation research in the ED indicates that incongruities between EHR design and usability and the clinical workflow may intensify clinician workflow fragmentation. In our prior work, we identified workflow fragmentation, which we define as task switching, as one potential approach for evaluating documentation burden in ED practice settings. Yet, no standardized, scalable measures of documentation burden have been developed. Despite shortcomings, there have been increasing efforts to leverage information from EHR event logs as an alternative to direct clinical observation methods in evaluating user-centric behaviors and interactions with health information technology systems. Using EHR event logs, this dissertation aims to advance the study of evaluating burden by investigating EHR-mediated workflow fragmentation as a measure of EHR documentation burden among physicians and registered nurses (hereinafter interchangeably referred to as “clinicians”) in the ED. First, I review the literature on the existing quantitative approaches employed for measuring clinician documentation burden in clinical practice settings. Next, I explore EHR factors perceived to contribute to clinician documentation burden as well as the perceived role of workflow fragmentation on clinician documentation burden in the ED. Lastly, I investigate data-driven approaches to abstract clinically relevant concepts from EHR event logs for studying EHR documentation burden—culminating into a computational framework to evaluate ED clinician documentation burden in the context of cognitive burden. Collectively, the work conducted in this dissertation contributes computational methods that are foundational for investigating clinician documentation burden measurement at scale using EHR event logs, informed by current evidence and clinician perspectives, and grounded in theory.

This study examined the extent of job-related burnout among Dallas County Community College Administrators. The levels of burnout among the participants were assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). This questionnaire seeks to measure the frequency and intensity of the three components of burnout—emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and lack of a sense of personal accomplishment.

The objective of this research was to determine the relationship between several positive psychological constructs for 178 teachers. The reliability of the measuring instruments, the relationship to each other and the wellness of the teachers were determined. The following measuring instruments were used: sense of coherence (Antonovsky), locus of control (Schepers), coping (Carver), personal meaning (Wong), life regard (Battista and Almond), engagement (Schaufeli) and burnout (Maslach). The empirical survey showed that the constructs correlate significantly The regression analysis indicated that some of the constructs are good predictors of each other. The factor analysis between the dimensions was determined with the use of varimax factor rotation. The dimensions were divided into five factors which in practice correlated significantly with each other. / Industrial & Orgarnisation Psychology / (M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology))

The general aim of this study was to investigate whether a relationship exists between employee wellness (specifically sense of coherence, burnout, sources of job stress and work engagement) and career anchors, and to determine whether gender, race, employment and age groups differed in terms of the employee wellness and career anchors variables. The study was conducted among a random sample of 90 employees in a typical South African work context. The data was collected by means of the Orientation to Life Questionnaire (OLQ), Maslach’s Burnout Inventory (MBI), Sources of Job Stress, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and the Career Orientations Inventory (COI). Supporting evidence indicates significant associations between employee wellness and the career anchors variables. The results also showed significant differences between the career anchors of males, females, blacks, whites, permanent staff, contract staff and age groups. The findings contribute valuable new knowledge to the wellness and career literature and organisational practices related to employee wellness and career decision making. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The objective of this study was to: (1) assess the overall wellness climate profile of a sample of higher education call centre employees for national benchmarking purposes; (2) explore the relationship between the participants‟ sense of coherence, affective wellbeing and burnout; and (3) determine how the participants differ regarding these variables in terms of socio-demographic contextual factors such as gender, race, age, and marital status. The South African Employee Health and Wellness Survey was used as a measuring instrument. Compared to the national norm, the results indicated a risky wellness climate reflecting a burnout propensity, lower morale (affective wellbeing) and lower resilience (sense of coherence). Significant relations existed between the participants‟ sense of coherence, affective wellbeing and burnout levels. Significant differences regarding these variables were also detected between males and females and the various marital status groups regarding the participants‟ sense of coherence, affective wellbeing and burnout. The findings of this study contributed new knowledge that may be used to inform employee wellness programmes within a higher education call centre environment. The study concluded with recommendations for future research and practice. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Comm. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The objective of this study was to: (1) assess the overall wellness climate profile of a sample of higher education call centre employees for national benchmarking purposes; (2) explore the relationship between the participants‟ sense of coherence, affective wellbeing and burnout; and (3) determine how the participants differ regarding these variables in terms of socio-demographic contextual factors such as gender, race, age, and marital status. The South African Employee Health and Wellness Survey was used as a measuring instrument. Compared to the national norm, the results indicated a risky wellness climate reflecting a burnout propensity, lower morale (affective wellbeing) and lower resilience (sense of coherence). Significant relations existed between the participants‟ sense of coherence, affective wellbeing and burnout levels. Significant differences regarding these variables were also detected between males and females and the various marital status groups regarding the participants‟ sense of coherence, affective wellbeing and burnout. The findings of this study contributed new knowledge that may be used to inform employee wellness programmes within a higher education call centre environment. The study concluded with recommendations for future research and practice. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Comm. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The primary aim of this study was to ascertain whether teacher burnout is accompanied by physiological, psychological and behavioural symptoms. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was used to ascertain the levels of burnout among a sample of 282 Indian teachers of all ranks in ex - House of Delegates schools in the Kwazulu - Natal region. The Burnout Manifestations Scale was used to elicit those symptoms which burned out subjects exhibited the most. While 23 % of the sample appeared vulnerable to burnout, 7% appeared to be already burned out. It was found that with a few exceptions, the sample was susceptible to a lesser or greater degree to almost all of the symptoms listed in the Burnout Manifestations Scale. As no significant differences between the groups was detected in the selected demographic variables, it can be concluded that anyone, irrespective of their sex, marital status or any other variable, can become vulnerable to burnout. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Fire fighters are involved in critical decision making situations, and under-performance and lack of job satisfaction due to burnout could adversely affect the welfare of the people that are being provided with the service. This study thus investigated the relationship between burnout and job satisfaction amongst operational fire fighters. Two measuring instruments were used: the Pines, Aronson & Kafry (1981) Burnout Index, and the Smith, Hulin and Kendall (1969) Job Descriptive Index. This study was conducted amongst 102 fire fighters working for a local authority. Through a literature review, burnout and job satisfaction were defined, and a link between the two constructs outlined. Through an empirical study, the relationship between burnout and job satisfaction was determined. Supporting evidence indicates a negative correlation between burnout and job satisfaction, as well as revealing social support amongst co-workers as being an important buffer against the effects of burnout. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial Psychology)

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Burnout levels have been found to be high among nurses in both public and private hospitals in South Africa. Burnout is defined within the human services as a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who work with people in some capacity. High levels of burnout have been linked to nurses’ intention to leave the profession, which places additional strain on an already struggling public health system characterised by a shortage of nurses in South Africa. The primary aim of the present cross-sectional correlational study was to determine the proportion of the variance in burnout among nurses accounted for by the linear combination of certain demographic characteristics and occupational stress factors. Secondary aims were to determine the relationship between such factors and burnout levels and to determine the average level of burnout and occupational stress factors reported. A convenience sample of 110 nurses was recruited from a public hospital located in the Western Cape. An analytical survey design for the collection of quantitative data was used. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that workload, interpersonal conflict at work, job status, organisational constraints, and HIV/AIDS stigma by association significantly predicted burnout levels. The linear combination of these variables accounted for 38% of the variance in emotional exhaustion, 32% of the variance in depersonalisation, and 12% of the variance in personal accomplishment. Death and dying-related stress and age did not predict burnout levels. Age was also the only predictor variable not significantly associated with burnout levels. Although burnout levels were not found to be high on average, 34% of the sample reported high levels of emotional exhaustion. A high average level of workload was also reported. It is recommended that future research should focus on the development and evaluation of interventions to ameliorate burnout among South African nurses. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hoë vlakke van uitbranding is bevind onder verpleegkundiges in beide openbare en private hospitale in Suid-Afrika. Uitbranding word binne die menslike dienste gedefinieer as 'n sindroom van emosionele uitputting, depersonalisasie en verminderde persoonlike vervulling wat kan voorkom onder individue wat werk met mense in een of ander hoedanigheid. Hoë vlakke van uitbranding is gekoppel aan verpleegkundiges se voorneme om die professie te verlaat, wat bykomende druk plaas op 'n reeds sukkelende openbare gesondheidstelsel gekenmerk deur 'n tekort aan verpleegkundiges in Suid-Afrika. Die primêre doel van die huidige deursnee- korrelasionele studie was om te bepaal hoeveel van die variansie in uitbranding onder verpleegkundiges voorspel word deur die lineêre kombinasie van sekere demografiese eienskappe en beroepstresfaktore. Sekondêre doelwitte was om die verhouding tussen sodanige faktore en uitbrandingsvlakke te bepaal en om die gemiddelde vlak van uitbranding en beroepstresfaktore soos gerapporteer te bepaal. ’n Gerieflikheidsteekproef van 110 verpleegkundiges is gewerf uit 'n openbare hospitaal geleë in die Wes-Kaap. 'n Analitiese opname-ontwerp vir die insameling van kwantitatiewe data is gebruik. Die resultate van hiërargiese meervoudige regressie-ontledings het aangedui dat werkslading, interpersoonlike konflik by die werk, werkstatus, organisatoriese beperkinge , en MIV/VIGS stigma deur assosiasie uitbrandingsvlakke beduidend voorspel het. Die lineêre kombinasie van hierdie veranderlikes was verantwoordelik vir 38% van die variansie in emosionele uitputting, 32% van die variansie in depersonalisasie, en 12% van die variansie in persoonlike vervulling. Dood en sterfte-verwante stres en ouderdom het nie uitbrandingsvlakke voorspel nie. Ouderdom was ook die enigste veranderlike wat nie beduidend geassosieer was met uitbrandingsvlakke nie. Alhoewel dit bevind is dat gemiddelde vlakke van uitbranding nie hoog is nie, het 34% van die steekproef hoë vlakke van emosionele uitputting gerapporteer. 'n Hoë gemiddelde vlak van werkslading is ook aangemeld. Dit word aanbeveel dat toekomstige navorsing toegespits behoort te word op die ontwikkeling en evaluering van ingrypings om uitbranding onder Suid-Afrikaanse verpleegkundiges aan te spreek.