Perspectives on an exhausted medical radiation practitioner workforce: emotional labour and the impact of compassion fatigue
Min Ku A * , Jillian Cavanagh A , Timothy Bartram A and Beni Halvorsen A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A College of Business and Law, School of Management, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, Vic. 3000, Australia.
* Correspondence to: s8903795@student.rmit.edu.au
Australian Health Review 46(5) 555-558 https://doi.org/10.1071/AH22042
Submitted: 1 November 2021 Accepted: 1 May 2022 Published: 20 May 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of AHHA. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY).
Abstract
As the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia reaches its peak, medical radiation practitioners (MRPs) are at capacity both physically and emotionally. High workloads and stress impact the mental wellbeing of MRPs, with suppression of feelings and emotions resulting in experiences of compassion fatigue. From a MRP workforce perspective, the long-term cost of the pandemic has yet to be realised. MRPs need to be supported to prevent unintended health consequences. Robust management interventions will be required to support the MRP workforce to manage and hopefully mitigate compassion fatigue transitioning out of the pandemic.
Keywords: burnout, compassion fatigue, COVID‐19, emotional labour, healthcare, job demands, medical radiation practitioner, wellbeing human resource management.
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