| Summary: | This thesis explored paediatric professionals' perceptions of stress and coping whilst working within inpatient settings. Paper one outlines a systematic literature review and meta-synthesis of 13 qualitative studies regarding burnout and resilience in paediatric healthcare professionals. The studies were critically appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP, 2017), before being synthesised using meta-ethnography (Noblitt & Hare, 1988) in order to conceptualise factors relating to burnout and resilience in this group. The findings indicate that professionals felt unprepared for the emotional aspects of the work, culminating in feelings of helplessness. Professionals coped with challenges through a process of connection and disconnection, and described the role as one which provides opportunities for personal growth. Paper two describes an empirical qualitative study of resilience in health play specialists working in inpatient paediatric settings. Ten health play specialists (HPS) from three children's hospitals were interviewed, and their responses were analysed using grounded theory methodology. A theory of resilience development in HPS was developed, resulting in one core-category: 'a unique role', and three categories describing the challenges they face: 'being misunderstood', 'being pulled in different directions', and 'being there'. Each sub-category describes the processes and conditions required to develop resilience for HPS. Findings from both papers demonstrate the importance of individual and organisational support structures to promote wellbeing for staff working within paediatric inpatient settings. Paper three presents a critical appraisal of the research conducted. The key decisions made are discussed, alongside reflections of the strengths and limitations within each paper. This section also considers the key clinical psychology competencies developed through conducting a large-scale research project.
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