Understanding and assessing work-related stress in genetic counsellors

Background: Work-related stress is a known issue that healthcare professionals experience when working in a patient-facing role. However, there is little research exploring the experience of work-related stress in genetic counselling, and nothing in the UK. This thesis sought to provide the first empirical research to understand the prevalence, experience, impact and type of work-related stress that UK genetic counsellors experience.

Methods: The three-phase mixed-methods research process comprised: 1) a mixed-methods systematic review of the prevalence and predictors of work-related stress in genetic counsellors, and to generate a thematic framework to support data analysis in phase two; 2) semi-structured interviews with genetic counsellors exploring their experiences, relationships and the impact of work-related stress (using template analysis) to develop a framework of experience; 3) national postal survey to estimate current prevalence rates, and identify potential predictor variables of work-related stress in UK genetic counsellors.

Results: The systematic review identified work-related stress as a substantial issue in genetic counsellors (from international studies) but their focus was limited to only burnout and compassion fatigue, failing to recognise or capture information relating to other types of work-related stress. Interviews confirmed the experience of work-related stress in UK genetic counsellors and the evolving role of genetic counselling is affecting professionals. Resilience emerged as an important coping characteristic to mitigate work-related stress and to cope with the needs of the role. The postal survey highlighted important predictive relationships between work-related stress and psychological wellbeing.

Conclusion: work-related stress is moderately prevalent in UK professionals and is modulated by levels of psychological wellbeing. Evolution in genomics was identified a persistent pressure on professionals, which compounded the challenges faced from working in a patient-facing role. Future research is required to unpack how work-related stress is experienced and to develop a comprehensive that captures what matters to genetic counsellors about work-related stress.