Professional quality of life and organizational support: a survey of physical therapists with experience as clinical instructors

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the professional quality of life (ProQoL) of physical therapists (PTs) with experience as a clinical instructor and identify factors associated with compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design and survey methodology. Participants were clinician PTs who have been clinical instructors, and completed an online survey that included the ProQoL scale, the eight-item Survey of Perceived Organizational Support, and demographics. Results: Of the 259 participants who completed the survey, the majority experienced average to high levels of compassion satisfaction and low levels of burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Chi-square tests of independence indicated high ratings of compassion satisfaction were associated with the uppermost years licensed as a PT, years of clinical teaching experience, and age. Participants aged 26–35 or with less than 5 years of clinical instruction experience correlated with low ratings of compassion satisfaction. Participants with more than 25 years of experience as PTs correlated with low ratings of burnout. High levels of compassion satisfaction were associated with high levels of perceived organizational support. Conclusion: Findings may assist clinical sites and site coordinators of clinical education in selecting and training clinical instructors.