ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to examine the work, client, and personal environments of community health practitioners, including the level of their professional quality of life (ProQOL), and identify the factors affecting their ProQOL. METHODS: Data were collected using a web-survey questionnaire, which was completed by a sample of 308 community health practitioners currently working in Korea. The questionnaire included items on ProQOL; three dimensions labeled compassion satisfaction, burn out, and secondary traumatic stress; job stress; job satisfaction; sense of community; and general characteristics. RESULTS: The mean scores for the three dimensions were 39.2±6.44 (compassion satisfaction), 31.9±3.59 (burn out), and 26.4±5.05 (secondary traumatic stress). A multiple linear regression revealed that compassion satisfaction varied significantly according to the satisfaction with job choice, sense of community, job stress, and job satisfaction. The factors affecting burn out were sense of community and work load, while the factors affecting secondary traumatic stress were education, job stress, and job satisfaction. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that comprehensive intervention focusing on improving the sense of community and job satisfaction and reducing job stress is essential to promote community health practitioners' ProQOL.