Personality Traits Associated with Occupational ‘Burnout’ in ABA Therapists

Background

Applied behaviour analysis (ABA) therapists typically work one‐to‐one with children with autism for extended periods of time, which often leads to high levels of job‐related stress, lower levels of job satisfaction, increased frequency of occupational ‘burnout’ and higher than average job turnover (Journal of Autism Development, 39 , 2009 and 42). This is particularly unfortunate, in that these vulnerable clients need stability and consistency in care, both of which are empirically related to clinical outcomes (Journal of Autism Development, 39 , 2009 and 42). It is reasonable to assume that some individuals, by virtue of their personal characteristics, are better suited to this type of work than are others.

Method

The purpose of the this study was to investigate associations between personality traits, using the five‐factor model of personality, and key job‐related variables, including burnout and job satisfaction, in a sample of therapists (n = 113) who work one‐to‐one with individuals diagnosed with autism.

Results

Significant correlations were found between Neuroticism and all three subscales of burnout (Exhaustion, Cynicism and Professional Efficacy). Extraversion and Conscientiousness were significantly negatively correlated with Cynicism and positively correlated with Professional Efficacy. Agreeableness was positively associated with Professional Efficacy. Job satisfaction was correlated positively with Extraversion and negatively with Neuroticism. Level of perceived personal and professional support partially mediated the effect of personality traits on job satisfaction.

Conclusions

These results may help to identify job applicants who are dispositionally less suited to this type of work, as well as currently employed therapists who are in need of support or intervention.     

‘Philosophy Lost’: Inquiring into the effects of the corporatized university and its implications for graduate nursing education

Drawing on a comprehensive, pan‐national analysis of the corporatization of Canadian universities, as well as the notions of ‘parrhesiastic’ mentorship and practice, the authors examine the effects of the corporatized university, its implications for graduate nursing education and nursing's relative silence on the subject. With the preponderance of business interests, the increasing dependence of universities on industry funding, cults of efficiency, research intensivity, and the pursuit of profit so prevalent in today's corporatized university, we argue that philosophical presuppositions so crucial to critical teaching, research, and reflection on nursing as a discipline are troublingly losing ground. We lament the erosion and fragmentation of philosophy, politics, and ethics as foundations for graduate education, which are increasingly perceived as less valuable, problematic, and in some cases, even burdensome. The effect of corporatization is the suppression of the critical engagement required of faculty in the everyday workings of institutions. We argue that, when the ideals of intellectual freedom, academic responsibility, duty, and obligation, as supported by philosophical thought, are smothered by the normalizing power of corporatized research agendas, philosophical approaches to inquiry and knowledge development become marginalized as scholars find themselves floundering in the face of a seeming ‘philosophy lost’.     

Evaluating the purpose and benefits of continuing education in nursing and the implications for the provision of continuing education for cancer nurses

In the light of increasing emphasis upon mandatory continuing education in nursing, the need for cancer nurses to update and improve their knowledge and skills is heightened. The challenges lie in how to keep nurses up-to-date, broaden their outlook and ensure that patients benefit. In this paper the literature on the purpose and benefits of continuing education is reviewed, and the implications of the Post-Registration Education and Practice Project (PREPP) for cancer nurses are addressed. Arguments about a definition of 'continuing learning' rather than 'continuing education' are discussed, since outcomes vary depending upon the definition adopted. Inconsistencies between the benefits claimed and those measured are highlighted. Attention is drawn to the inconclusive nature of the studies that have measured impact; some of the problems encountered in the provision of adequate education and its accessibility to nurses; and the continuing discrepancy of perceived need between nurse and manager. Specific impact evaluation studies relating to continuing education in cancer nursing are reviewed. Recommendations for providing education with measurable outcomes are drawn from the literature, while a case is made for the alternative perspective of lifelong learning where outcomes are neither specific nor measurable. In conclusion, the questions of who should be responsible for education and the need for further development of impact evaluation tools are addressed.     

Evaluating on-line continuing education for nurses

The rapid increase in web sites for nursing continuing education demands critical appraisal by the user. The level of anonymity of the web site authors and sponsors may lead to a laxity of accountability found in no other media. This article discusses criteria for web site evaluation and provides a rating instrument to assist learners in determining the quality and usability of an on-line nursing continuing education offering. Using the rating instrument, two web sites are reviewed. A list of selected nursing continuing education web sites is included.     

对在职继续教育的必要性及其管理的探讨

随着医学科学的发展,护理职能的改变,对护理人员掌握知识的深度与广度以及护理质量、护理教学等都提出了更高的要求,仅凭学校所学的基础知识是远远不能满足临床工作需要的,而且很快还会出现知识老化.护士要跟上医学科学和医疗技术发展的需要,就必须掌握与实践相结合的知识和技术.因此,护理继续教育日益受到重视.护理继续教育是指经过规范化专业培训后,以学习新理新知识、新技术和新方法为主的一种终生性的护理教学教育.     

From ‘part of ’ to ‘partnership’: the changing relationship between nurse education and the National Health Service

GILLETT K . Nursing Inquiry 2010; 17 : 197–207
From ‘part of ’ to ‘partnership’: the changing relationship between nurse education and the National Health Service Worldwide, many countries have moved towards incorporating nurse education into the higher education sector and this inevitably has implications for the relationship between nurse education providers and local health service providers. This study explores the changes to the relationship in the UK between nurse education providers and the UK National Health Service over the past 20 years and demonstrates how two political ideologies have been central to those changes. The two ideologies of interest are the introduction of internal markets to the National Health Service by the Conservative government at the end of the 1980s and the New Labour response to the fragmentation of public services caused by Conservative neoliberal policy, which was to introduce the notion of ‘partnership working’. This study reviews the wider debate around partnership policy and applies that debate to evaluate the way that nurse education providers and the National Health Service are working in partnership to provide clinical practice placements for nursing students.     

‘Effective’ Australian gerontology nurses: a repertory grid analysis

• ? Repertory grids were completed by gerontological nurses (N= 60) to elicit the personal constructs they used to characterize gerontological nurses, effective gerontological nurses and the extent to which participants believed themselves to be effective as nurses working in this specialist field.
• ? Analysis of pooled repertory grids indicated that the personal construct ‘caring, compassionate, empathetic’ was rated most highly as characteristic of gerontological nurses in general and of effective gerontological nurses.
• ? Cluster analysis of individual repertory grids showed no significant difference between self-perceptions of participants as effective gerontological nurses and the ideal gerontological nurses they would like to become.
• ? Other findings of this research indicate that a variety of aspects of gerontological nursing need improvement if negative perceptions of this area of nursing practice are to be altered.