Staff shortages, unsustainable workloads, insecure work and the increasing complexity of roles, along with COVID-19 have taken their toll on early childhood education teachers and assistants, writes Emily Campbell.
Counsellor and clinical supervisor Emily Rotta (pictured opposite page) says members can take steps to protect their mental health and identify burnout, compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma.
The demands of ‘helping professions’
Emily has many years of complex case management experience – and a decade of experience working in both state and non-government education sectors.
Her history working in schools means she has a thorough understanding of the high demands and pressures of working in education.
“People working in ‘caring professions’ such as early childhood education staff, are at greater risk of burnout and compassion fatigue than the general population, so needed to prioritise self-care,” Emily said.
“When we are helpers working in helping professions, we hear the stories of others, over and over, which does have an impact on you.
“Staff in caring professions such as early childhood education tend to put the wellbeing of others and those children in your care before yourself, but it’s crucial to prioritise your own wellbeing and make time for self-care.
“We tend to put our professional hat on first and look after everyone else, but it’s like in an aeroplane emergency: if the oxygen mask drops down, we need to put our own masks on before helping others, or we’re no good to anybody else.”
Identifying burnout vs compassion fatigue
Compassion fatigue has similar symptoms to burnout; however, they are two different things.
Emily explained that unhelpful and unhealthy coping strategies for dealing with work-related stress can be triggers for burnout.
She said compassion fatigue is not always easily identifiable and is a preoccupation with absorbing trauma and emotional stresses of others, and this creates a secondary traumatic stress in the helper.
Compassion fatigue symptoms include:
- sadness and grief
- avoidance or dread of working with certain people
- reduced ability to feel empathy
- changes in beliefs, expectations and assumptions
- headaches
- digestive problems
- fatigue
- psychological distress.
“On the other hand, burnout is being worn out and the impact of that burnout can gradually emerge over time,” Emily said.
“Burnout can easily be identified by direct links and stressors within a person’s working and personal life and is often caused by overworking and high levels of prolonged stress.
“People suffering from burnout may experience physical or mental collapse and fatigue,” she said.
“Unfortunately, if we burn out once, we have a tendency of burning out again within a couple of years if we don’t look after ourselves.
“People in helping professions and high achievers are more prone to burnout and before COVID-19, 27 per cent of Australians reportedly experienced burnout.
“However, we know the true number is much higher, given burnout is severely underreported.”
Burnout symptoms can manifest as:
- fatigue
- anger
- frustration
- withdrawal from friends, family or colleagues
- working long hours
- taking work home.
