Miss Kate Rodgers1
1MNCCI Coffs Harbour, Coffs Harbour, Australia
Biography:
Kate Rodgers is a Radiation Therapist who qualified from the University of Newcastle in 2023. She has spent the past 18 months working rurally in Bendigo and Coffs Harbour and has developed a strong interest in promoting mental health and wellbeing for Radiation Therapists and students while ensuring optimal patient care.
In 2023, she received the Best Student Presenter award at the Mid North Coast Imaging and Radiation Therapy Conference for her presentation on this topic. In 2024, she returned to highlight gaps in Radiation Therapist training for treating patients with neurocognitive disorders, advocating for enhanced education.
Abstract:
The mental health status of Radiation Therapists within rural communities has consistently endured stress and isolation due to lacking support networks that would otherwise be seen in urban and metropolitan centres. Personal exposure to Radiation Oncology departments highlights the lacking support for qualified Radiation Therapists and Radiation Therapy students when experiencing high levels of compassion fatigue and burnout, further impacting the care of patients within the department.
Compassion fatigue is the term used to describe the physical, psychological and emotional impact of helping others. This is commonly seen through experiences of a stressful workplace environment, trauma, excessive hours of work and lack of resources. (Singh, et al. 2017)
Through a metanalysis of a variety of peer reviewed articles, methods to increase wellbeing of staff were highlighted. These include increased availability of counselling services, incorporation of physical exercise throughout the working day and management roles creating time for check ins/clear communication between clinical staff at the start of the working day.
Through the implementation of practices that involve exercise and clear communication, a reduction in dissatisfaction and compassion fatigue of Radiation Oncology staff members can be seen, further improving patient care.
It was also found that we are able to extend our findings into an Allied Health perspective, enabling us to promote a safer environment for a wider range of health professionals.