The Association Between Post‐Earthquake Trauma Levels and Compassion Fatigue, Secondary Traumatic Stress, and Occupational Burnout Among Health Professionals Following the Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes

Background Major earthquakes impose sustained operational and psychological stress on clinicians. Clarifying how post‐disaster trauma relates to compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and burnout can guide service planning and support. Objectives To describe post‐earthquake trauma levels among physicians and nurses and examine their associations with compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and occupational burnout following the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes. Methods A cross‐sectional survey of frontline clinicians from multiple hospital units was conducted using validated instruments for trauma‐related symptoms, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and occupational burnout. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the sample. Group comparisons were used to evaluate differences by sex, profession, and exposure‐related factors (bereavement, displacement, difficulty contacting family, and basic‐needs problems). Bivariate correlations were used to characterize the associations among continuous scores. Two‐tailed tests were used with α = 0.05. Results The clinicians reported a substantial psychosocial burden. Among female and nursing healthcare personnel, participants who had lost contact with a loved one, experienced nutritional problems, lost a loved one, or relocated due to home damage had higher mean post‐earthquake trauma scores ( p < 0.05). Furthermore, it was determined that those experiencing nutritional problems had higher levels of occupational burnout and those who had lost contact with a loved one had higher levels of secondary trauma ( p < 0.05). A moderately positive and significant correlation was found between the total mean score of the “Scale for Determining the Level of Post‐Earthquake Trauma (PETLDS)” and the mean scores of the “Compassion Fatigue‐Short Scale (CF‐SS),” “CF‐SS/sub‐dimension of Secondary Trauma Stress,” and “CF‐SS/sub‐dimension of Occupational Burnout” ( p < 0.001). Conclusions After mass‐casualty events, clinicians may experience coupled elevations in trauma‐related distress, compassion fatigue, and burnout. Unit‐proximal supports—facilitated family contact, reliable access to basic needs, and low‐barrier psychosocial resources—may help maintain service capacity. Longitudinal adjusted analyses are warranted to refine risk stratification and inform targeted interventions.