This study explored how student paramedics experience compassion fatigue - a type of emotional and physical exhaustion that can occur when regularly caring for others in distress. The researchers wanted to understand how student paramedics feel about compassion fatigue, how it affects their work, and what kind of support might help them cope. To do this, a group of student paramedics were interviewed about their personal experiences and also asked to complete a short questionnaire called the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL). This questionnaire measured their levels of compassion satisfaction (positive feelings from helping others), burnout (emotional exhaustion), and secondary traumatic stress (stress from exposure to others' trauma).
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Themes related to student paramedics' experiences of compassion fatigue
Timeframe: Interviews were completed at a single time point, depending on when the voluntary participant joined the study (between the 19th November 2024 and 13th December 2024).