Date of Award

6-2015

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Social Work

Department

School of Social Work

First Reader/Committee Chair

Dr. Zoila Gordon

Abstract

This thesis attempted to examine the impact of self-care, compassion fatigue and burnout on social work students. This was achieved through the use of a Demographic Survey, the Self-Care Assessment, the Professional Quality of Life-IV (ProQOL-IV) survey, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS). A total of three research questions were examined statistically, that included: the most common methods of self-care employed, the overall levels of compassion fatigue, and the overall levels of burnout. Title 4e was also taken into consideration when developing and designing the questions and summary recommendations. Questionnaires were sent out electronically, with an actual response rate of twenty eight percent. A Spearman’s Correlation, Cronbach Alpha, and t-test were used to analyze the data to determine if certain variables were affected when compared to each other. There was evidence by the data that the participants are very knowledgeable of self-care in such areas as spirituality, psychological care, emotional care, and a balanced work/professional life. The area that did show a difference was between age and self-care. Older students tended to have lower burnout and compassion fatigue issues compared to their younger counterparts.

For future research, it is recommended that similar studies be conducted on BASW and MSW students to insure they have a clear understanding of burnout, how to it happens, and how best to avoid it.

Included in

Social Work Commons

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