The Moderator Role of Passion for Work in the Association between Work Stressors and Secondary Traumatic Stress: A Cross-Level Diary Study among Health Professionals of Intensive Care Units

Background Secondary traumatic stress (STS), a construct formed by compassion fatigue, shattered assumptions, and symptomatology, has been scarcely studied in intensive care units (ICU). In these units, healthcare workers encounter daily work stressors which impact on their health and well-being. Also, previous literature revealed a passion for caring among these workers, finding two types: harmonious passion, which may protect them against negative outcomes, and obsessive passion, which may boost negative consequences. We aim to study whether both types of passion could moderate the relationships between daily work stressors and STS. Methods In all, 265 assessments were collected at ICUs from different hospitals in Spain through a diary approach (53 health workers x 5 days at two time points per day). Results First, daily work stressors were positive predictors of symptomatology; secondly, dispositional harmonious passion was a negative predictor of both compassion fatigue and shattered assumptions, also presenting a buffering effect between daily work stressors and daily shattered assumptions. Finally, dispositional obsessive passion showed positive relationships with both shattered assumptions and symptomatology, also presenting a boosting effect between daily work stressors and daily symptomatology. Conclusions This study allows us to deepen our understanding of STS in ICUs and to boost preventive proposals. Practical implications are discussed.