Abstract
Context Decreased well-being of healthcare workers expressed as stress and decreased job satisfaction influences patient safety, patient satisfaction, and cost containment. Self-compassion has garnered recent attention due to its positive association with well-being and happiness. Discovering novel pathways to increase the well-being of healthcare workers is essential. Objective This study sought to explore the influence of self-compassion on employee happiness in healthcare professionals. Design, Setting, and Participants A total of 400 participants (mean age = 45 ± 14, 65% female) healthcare workers at a large teaching hospital were randomly asked to complete questionnaires assessing their levels of happiness and self-compassion, life conditions, and habits. Measures Participants completed the Happiness Scale and Self-Compassion Scales, the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire as well as variables associated with well-being: relationship status, the number of hours spent exercising a week, attendance at a wellness facility, and engagement in a regular spiritual practice. Results Self-compassion was significantly and independently associated with perceived happiness explaining 39% of its variance after adjusting for age, marital status, gender, time spent exercising, and attendance to an exercise facility. Two specific subdomains of self-compassion from the instrument used, coping with isolation and mindfulness, accounted for 95% of the self-compassion effect on happiness. Conclusion Self-compassion is meaningfully and independently associated with happiness and well-being in healthcare professionals. Our results may have practical implications by providing specific self-compassion components to be targeted in future programs aimed at enhancing well-being in healthcare professionals.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 201-206 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Explore |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2017 |
Keywords
- happiness
- healthcare workers
- job stress
- mindfulness
- self-compassion
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Nursing
- Analysis
- Chiropractics
- Complementary and alternative medicine