A Comparative Analysis of Burnout and Professional Quality of Life in Clinical Mental Health Providers and Health Care Administrators

This article examines professional burnout, compassion fatigue, and compassion satisfaction in a sample of mental health professional staff in one southern Veteran's Affairs hospital compared to a sample of administrative staff in the same setting. It was hypothesized that there would be significant differences in the experience of these conditions between these two groups, with clinical providers experiencing higher levels of stress due to their direct exposure to patients and their mental health needs. Overall, participants in this sample scored high on the measure of compassion satisfaction; however, significant symptoms of burnout and compassion fatigue were also noted.