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Uncovering a Curricular Model of Self‐Care in Pediatric Physical Therapist Education

Introduction. Pediatric physical therapists are faced with complex experiences while serving children and families. Amidst a family's chronic sorrow over the loss of what “might have been,” the pediatric physical therapist may encounter emotional stress in the form of compassion fatigue and burnout. This study's aim was to uncover a curricular model of evidence‐based self‐care to offer well‐being and resilience to this population. Review of the Literature. Pediatric physical therapy is a unique specialization in that it includes consistent, frequent contact with grieving parents over extended periods of time. Review begins with terminology such as chronic sorrow, ambiguous loss, burnout, cognitive vs. emotional empathy, compassion fatigue. It includes the neurobiological responses to compassion fatigue, and ends with how emotion regulation can be taught in physical therapist education. Subjects. Participants included pediatric physical therapists who serve children from birth to age 5 years. Methods. Grounded theory methods were used to conduct this study. Triangulation was achieved with 2 modes of data collection and 2 investigators. A survey was sent via email to members of the Section on Pediatrics of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and early intervention program directors across the nation. Participants could respond by using the link, or request an individualized interview in the upstate New York area. Participants were asked to describe emotional stressors and presence of coping mechanisms, compassion fatigue, or burnout. Constant comparative method was used to code data, develop categories, and establish curricular recommendations. Results. Two categories and 8 curricular recommendations were derived from the survey and interview data. Category 1 was emotional empathy, in which participants felt overwhelming emotions as the professional lines were blurred. Category 2 was cognitive empathy, in which participants learned to care for themselves first, make healthy connections with the children and families, and “let go” of self‐blame and perfectionism. Conclusion. Curricular recommendations were based on the theory of mindfulness, which was grounded in the data and supported by the literature review.