Date

5-22-2024

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)

Chair

Mollie Evans-Boyd

Keywords

compassion fatigue, burnout, secondary traumatic stress, essential workers

Disciplines

Counseling | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

Hurricanes have become a normative event in the Bahamian diaspora. Over the past twenty years at least five major storms have hit The Bahamas destroying vital infrastructure such as schools, health care facilities, airports, utilities, and homes, leaving portions of several islands uninhabitable. Frontline workers, also referred to as essential workers who do the work of interacting directly to service the needs of the people most affected are often overlooked. Working extended hours, witnessing, experiencing, and hearing the stories of sufferers, coupled with one’s own loss causes psychological distress and diminished capacity to function effectively. This qualitative phenomenological study was conducted to understand and describe the impact of compassion fatigue, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress on the psychological wellbeing of essential workers working on Grand Bahama Island during Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19 Pandemic. The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory was used to select the convenience sample of seven participants who suffered moderate burnout in at least one dimension of the instrument. The theory that guided this study is based on Figley’s Compassion Stress and Fatigue Model. Data was collected via interview using semi-structured open-ended questions. A modified version of Tesch’s eight step model was used to analyze data, yielding six themes and codes. The findings support the theoretical perspective of compassion fatigue as a sociological problem rather than an individual issue. Recommendations for future research related to essential workers, education, and organizational factors related to the phenomena are made.

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