A Qualitative Descriptive Exploration of the Experiences of Burn Therapists

Abstract Exposure to patients who have experienced major traumatic events places burn therapists at risk of developing high levels of anxiety and stress, directly impacting their quality of life. Poor professional quality of life has been associated with negative physical and emotional characteristics in healthcare professionals and may subsequently influence patient safety and satisfaction, job retention, and productivity. The purpose of this study was to understand and describe the experiences of occupational and physical therapists who provide acute therapy to people who have sustained burn injuries. Semistructured interviews were completed with 10 participants (8 females and 7 physical therapists) for this qualitative descriptive study. Conventional content analysis was used to analyze the data collected from semistructured interviews. Six themes emerged after content analysis: (1) the importance of therapeutic relationships to patient successes and therapists’ retention; (2) the autonomy and flexibility of burn therapists; (3) the impact of career longevity on compassion; (4) the uniqueness of burn team relationships and camaraderie; (5) the challenges of operating within the business of a healthcare system; and (6) the physical, mental, and emotional challenges to the burn therapists’ resiliency. This research brings to light the physical, mental, and emotional challenges that impact burn therapists’ resiliency, and which should be considered when creating programs to increase retention and professional quality of life in this professional population.