Compassion Satisfaction and Compassion Fatigue in Australian Rural and Remote Rehabilitation Healthcare Workers

Abstract

Background. Australian rural and remote rehabilitation healthcare workers operate within insurance-based frameworks with standardised KPIs that do not consider the complexities of rural and remote practice. They face isolation, travel, limited resources, and hazardous conditions that affect professional quality of life, including compassion satisfaction (CS) and compassion fatigue (CF), which comprises burnout and secondary traumatic stress (STS).

Aim. To examine, for the first time, levels, experiences, risk and protective factors of CS and CF in this work cohort.

Methods. The Professional Quality of life (ProQOL) model guided three studies: a scoping review (n=12 studies), semi‑structured interviews (n=16), and a national mixed‑methods survey that included the ProQoL5 scale (n=29). Each informed the next study. Volunteer participants were rural and remote rehabilitation healthcare workers and registered members of their professional body.

Results. No studies specific to rural and remote rehabilitation healthcare workers were found by the scoping review; research focused on medicine and nursing, where CS, CF, and burnout were linked to negative work and environmental factors. Interviews revealed that poor support and safety cultures normalised WHS risks. Survey findings showed lower CS, higher burnout and worse STS than mostly urban Australian healthcare workers Organisational impacts included poor work-life balance and work culture.

Conclusions. Rural and remote rehabilitation healthcare workers may experience lower CS and higher CF than urban colleagues. Reported organisational factors align with psychosocial hazards identified in Safe Work Australia legislative updates. The ProQOL5 scale may not fully capture these hazards and therefore needs to be validated in this cohort. Addressing organisational conditions through supervision and workload management is important for workforce sustainability.