Study setting, Study design, and period
The study was conducted in 5 randomly selected public hospitals that provide cancer treatment in Ethiopia. The selected hospitals were Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH), St Paul’s Hospital, Millenium Medical College Hospital and Zewditu Hospital in Addis Ababa City, Ayder comprehensive specialized hospital located in Mekelle, Tigray regional state, and Jimma University Medical Center (JUMC) located in Jimma town. Institutional-based Cross-sectional study design was used from May 2020 to April 2020 in selected hospitals.
Study Participants
The study participants were nurses working in the cancer treatment centers of the randomly selected hospitals after excluding those who are critically sick, thus, unable to fill out the questionnaire and have less than six months of working experience in the cancer treatment unit.
Operational/terms definition
Empathy: Empathy is the ability to understand and share other people’s emotions and feelings.
Compassion:Compassion is a virtuous and intentional response to knowing a person discerns their needs and ameliorates their suffering through relational understanding and action.
Professional Quality of Life: Professional quality of life is the internal sense that helpers feel about their work, including both positive and negative aspects.
Personality traits; Personality traits are an individual’s behavior toward others that reflect people’s characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, attitude, and mindset to make his personality.
Study Variables
Dependent variable
- Compassion Satisfaction, Compassion Fatigue, and Burnout
Independent variables
- Demographic factors are age, gender, marital status, and educational level.
- Work-related factors are work experience, work department, job title, shift, loading, and monthly income in birr.
- Personality traits are extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness.
- Social factors are social support (significant other support, family support, friend support)
Measurement tools
The data was collected using a questionnaire that was developed in the English language and adapted from previously conducted studies in Nepal, Spain, and Ethiopia [16,17,9]. The questionnaire comprised structured questions based on the Professional Quality of Life Scale (PROQOL) instrument version 5. The questionnaires focused on the nurses’ level of compassion satisfaction, burnout and compassion fatigue, and associated factors. The positive and negative ways of compassionate care that can affect the nurse in health care provision were considered [18, 19].
The data collection instruments include four major parts:
Part I: This section includes questions related to socio-demographic information of the study subjects such as sex, age, educational status, monthly income, and work experience.
Part II: It includes questions on personality scale questions focused on the individual levels of stress, feeling, and interests.
Part III: This section includes questions related to the social support of family and friends
Part IV: The questions ask about the nurse’s work situation that affects them in both positive and negative, as a helping profession.
Data Collection Procedure
Approval from the Ethics Committee of the Addis Ababa University, College of Health Sciences, School of Nursing and Midwifery was obtained before data collection. The researchers then contacted the nursing department directors at each hospital and explained the purpose and meaning of this study. Once permission was granted, the head nurses of select departments were invited to serve as research assistants to explain the study’s purpose to the participants. After oral informed consent forms were obtained, the researchers distributed the four-item instruments to the participant. The participants completed the instruments anonymously. All data were numerically coded and accessible only to the researchers to protect confidentiality.
Data Quality Assurance
A structured questionnaire was used to collect data after pre-testing the instrument in Armed Force Hospital on 5% of the sample size. The pre-test was conducted two weeks before the actual data collection period and the pretested data were not included in the main study. The data collectors were BSc nurse students who were taken from the same University Hospital in each study area. The training was provided for supervisors and data collectors on the data collection instruments. Then the gap between the method and materials was identified and the appropriate correction was made.
Data Analysis
In this study, data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics including, frequency mean, median, range, standard deviation, and inferential statistics. The normal distribution of the values was tested using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test. The differences in compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and burnout among participants with demographic and work-related characteristics were tested using the independent t-test and one-way analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Simple regression was performed to assess the relationship between the continuous variables and three dependent ones. Those independent variables with a p-value less than 0.20 in the univariate analysis were entered into the multivariate analyses [20]. Data analysis was done using SPSS 21.0 statistical program.