Nurse–Patient Connectedness and Nurses’ Professional Quality of Life: Experiences of Volunteering at a Pediatric Oncology Camp

Abstract

Objective: Pediatric oncology nurses can experience burnout, vicarious traumatization, and compassion fatigue related to the unique stressors of their profession. Opportunities to enhance nurses’ professional commitment and nurse–patient connectedness may mitigate these stressors. This study explored the impact of volunteering at a local oncology camp on pediatric oncology nurses’ professional quality of life and connectedness with their oncology patients. Method and Sample: Pediatric oncology nurses from a single institution were invited to participate in this mixed methods study. Participants completed a survey assessing professional quality of life, professional commitment, and patient connectedness. Nurses who had oncology camp volunteer experience were invited to participate in a qualitative interview. Results: Compared with noncamp nurses ( n = 23), camp nurses ( n = 25) had increased odds of a low burnout score (odds ratio = 6.74, 95% confidence interval [1.10, 41.43], p = .039) and increased odds of a high compassion satisfaction score (odds ratio = 4.69, 95% confidence interval [1.14, 19.32], p = .033). Qualitative interviews supported the impact of volunteering at camp on nurses’ personal and professional perspective, nursing practice, and delivery of person-centered care. Conclusion: Volunteering at a pediatric oncology camp provided nurses the opportunity to engage with patients, share experiences, and view patients as individuals while still maintaining professional boundaries. Nurses who volunteer at camp described a perspective moving beyond patient-centered to person-centered care, and for some pediatric oncology nurses, camp volunteering may be a novel way to mitigate burnout and an important tool to enhance resiliency.

The Impact of Volunteering at a Family Camp for Children and Adolescents With Cancer: The Experience of Pediatric Intensive Care Nurses

“…In the 6-month follow-up interviews, nurses reported that the experience at camp helped them see “kids as kids” when they returned to work in the PICU. The person-factor and patient/family factor categories of the PICU nurses in this study align with the nurse-patient connectedness and professional quality-of-life experiences of pediatric oncology nurses described by Cherven and colleagues 16 …”

“…The person-factor and patient/ family factor categories of the PICU nurses in this study align with the nurse-patient connectedness and professional quality-of-life experiences of pediatric oncology nurses described by Cherven and colleagues. 16 The 3rd category, work-related factors, revealed that the camp experience had a positive impact on the nurses' perception of their work in the PICU. In the 6-month postcamp interviews, nurses described improved relationships among nurse colleagues, which may mitigate the signs and symptoms of burnout related to compassion fatigue and moral distress.…”

“…In a recent mixed-methods study, Cherven and colleagues 16 examined the experiences of pediatric oncology nurses who volunteered at a children's oncology camp and found that the experience of being with patients at camp enhanced the pediatric oncology nurses' professional commitment and nurse-patient connectedness, 2 key factors related to job satisfaction and quality of life. In semistructured interviews with 13 nurses with camp volunteer experience, “nurses reported that camp helped them move their practice focus from task-oriented to person-centered,” concluding that the camp experience may mitigate burnout in the stressful field of pediatric oncology nursing 16 . (p142) The aim of the current study was to explore the experience of PICU nurses who volunteer at a camp for families of children and adolescents with cancer.…”

Factors Influencing Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurse Retention: A Scoping Review

“…In the absence of adequate education and psychosocial support, specialized highstress work environments can result in the development of ineffective coping strategies that further increase a clinician's risk (Sabo, 2008;Sekol & Kim, 2014). Specific stressors found in subspecialty settings such as inpatient and outpatient pediatric hematology, oncology, apheresis, and stem-cell and bone marrow transplant units lend themselves to the nurse experiencing vicarious traumatization (Sekol & Kim, 2014), compassion fatigue (Boyle & Bush, 2018;Hecktman, 2012), ethical conflict (Bartholdson et al, 2015;Weiner et al, 2021), moral distress (MD; Dyo et al, 2016;Weiner et al, 2021), grief (Conte, 2014;Montgomery et al, 2017), burnout (De la Fuente-Solana et al, 2021;Hecktman, 2012;Sekol & Kim, 2014;Spinetta et al, 2000), and job dissatisfaction due to feelings of helplessness (Cherven et al, 2020;De la Fuente-Solana et al, 2021;Sekol & Kim, 2014). Consequently, nurses may begin to withdraw emotionally and physically from their work (Boyle & Bush, 2018) resulting in reduced quality of care (Salmond et al, 2019), increased patient safety incidents (Dunn et al, 2021;Garcia et al, 2019), increased absenteeism (Salmond et al, 2019;Spinetta et al, 2000), and poor staff retention (Buckley et al, 2020;Mahon, 2018).…”

Validation of the Professional Quality of Life Scale among Slovenian and Croatian nurses

“…Moreover, low professional quality of life of nurses can have a negative impact on patient care and quality of life. Findings show that nurses working in various fields experience negative stressors that impact their professional quality of life (Cherven et al, 2020;Duarte et al, 2016;Kwak et al, 2020). Good working conditions that provide safety for employees can enhance their emotions and help them to improve their mental and physical health at the workplace and thus increase their sense of competence and job satisfaction.…”