Emotional labour in paramedic practice: student awareness of professional demands

Kath Jennings
Sunday, July 2, 2017

Purpose:The purpose of this study was to explore student paramedics' awareness of the emotional demands of their future role, particularly regarding the delivery of compassionate care.Problem:There is a dominance of nursing literature in the discourse around compassionate care and emotional labour, and a paucity of research in the paramedic literature.Methods:A survey was issued to a small convenience sample of paramedic students. Excel was used to organise data collected, which was then presented graphically as tables and charts.Results:Key findings were drawn out and it was found that there were some correlations between the literature reviewed and results generated.Conclusion:Student paramedics had identified factors affecting their emotions in placement very early on in their studies. There was evidence of students covering up their emotions whilst in placement. The research reinforced the need for further larger scale and longitudinal studies.

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