Latent profiles of nurses' moral resilience and compassion fatigue.

BACKGROUND: Compassion fatigue is often associated with moral distress in the nursing practice among registered nurses. Moral resilience is an important ability to maintain, restore, or promote their physical and mental health in response to ethical dilemmas in nursing. Moral resilience can be utilized as a potential solution to aid registered nurses in effectively managing compassion fatigue. AIM: To identify latent profiles of moral resilience among registered nurses and to explore the relationships of these profiles with compassion fatigue. RESEARCH DESIGN: From August 2022 to December 2022, 569 nurses were recruited in two general hospitals, in China. A Rushton Moral Resilience Scale and the Chinese version of Compassion Fatigue-Short Scale were given to the participants. A latent profile analysis was conducted to explore moral resilience latent profiles. Predictors of profiles membership was evaluated using multinomial logistic regression analysis, and the compassion fatigue scores of each latent profile were compared using a one-way analysis of variance. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: We obtained ethical approval from the Institution Review Board of Xiangya School of Nursing, Central South University (IRB No. E202293, approved 15/July/2022). RESULTS: A four-profile moral resilience model best fit the data. Different levels and shapes differentiated the four profiles: high moral resilience (28.7%), moderate moral resilience (52.3%), low responses and high efficacy (16.2%), and low moral resilience (2.8%). Nurses with bachelor's degrees were more likely to belong to the high moral resilience (OR = 0.118, p = .038) and moderate moral resilience (OR = 0.248, p = .045); Nurses who were divorced or separated (OR = 11.746, p = .025) and very dissatisfied with their work (OR = 0.001, p = .049) were more probably belonging to low moral resilience. Nurses who had received ethical training in the hospital were more likely involved in high moral resilience (OR = 5.129, p = .003) and low responses and high efficacy (OR = 5.129, p = .003). In each profile of moral resilience, compassion fatigue was experienced differently by the participants (F = 13.05, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Developing and implementing interventions tailored to each nurse's moral resilience profile would maximize interventions' effectiveness and reduce nurses' compassion fatigue.

Social support, empathy and compassion fatigue among clinical nurses: structural equation modeling.

BACKGROUND: Clinical nurses are at high risk for compassion fatigue. Empathy is a prerequisite for compassion fatigue, and social support is an important variable in the process of reducing individual stress. However, the role of social support in the relationship between empathy and compassion fatigue remains unclear. This study explored whether social support mediates the relationship between empathy and compassion fatigue among clinical nurses. METHODS: A total of 992 clinical nurses were recruited through convenience sampling for a cross-sectional study in Central China. They completed the General Information Questionnaire, Perceived Social Support Scale, Professional Quality of Life Scale, and Jefferson Scale of Empathy. SPSS was used to conduct descriptive statistical analyses. Pearson's or Spearman's correlation analyses and AMOS were employed to build a structural equation model (SEM) to verify the mediating effect of social support on the relationship between empathy and compassion fatigue. RESULTS: The results indicated that the standardized direct effect of empathy on compassion fatigue was 0.127, and the standardized indirect effect of empathy on compassion fatigue through social support was 0.136. The mediation effect ratio between empathy and compassion fatigue was 51.7%. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that social support mediates the relationship between empathy and compassion fatigue among clinical nurses. This finding suggests that increasing nurses' social support can decrease the prevalence of compassion fatigue. Nursing managers should provide training related to flexibly adjusting empathy and educating nurses to establish effective social networks with family, friends, and colleagues to prevent compassion fatigue.

Clinical nurses' compassion fatigue psychological experience process: a constructivist grounded theory study.

BACKGROUND: Clinical nurses are susceptible to compassion fatigue when exposed to various types of traumatic events in patients for extended periods of time. However, the developmental process, staging, and psychological responses distinct to each stage of compassion fatigue in nurses are not fully clarified. This study aimed to explore the processes of compassion fatigue and the psychological experiences specific to each phase of compassion fatigue among clinical nurses. METHODS: Charmaz's Constructivist Grounded Theory methodology was used in this qualitative research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 clinical nurses with varying degrees of compassion fatigue from December 2020 to January 2021. Interview data were analyzed using grounded theory processes. RESULTS: The data were categorized into five separate categories and 22 sub-categories. This study found that the process of compassion fatigue is dynamic and cumulative, which was classified into five phases: compassion experience period, compassion decrement period, compassion discomfort period, compassion distress period, and compassion fatigue period. CONCLUSION: Clinical nurses who experience compassion fatigue may go through five stages that are stage-specific and predictable. The findings can shed light on local and global applications to better understand the problem of nurses' compassion fatigue. The interventions for addressing compassion fatigue in clinical nurses should be stage-specific, targeted, and individualized.

Psychological capital mediates the association between nurses' practice environment and work engagement among Chinese male nurses.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the environmental and individual factors contributing to male nurses' psychological well-being and to explore the psychological mechanisms that may explain the links between nurses' practice environment and work engagement, thereby presenting the implications for nurse managers. METHODS: A total of 161 male nurses from three tertiary first-class hospitals in Changsha City in China participated in the study. We collected the data using the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index, the Psychological Capital Questionnaire, and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. RESULTS: Scores of male nurses' practice environment (2.88 ± 0.31), psychological capital (4.42 ± 0.62), and work engagement (3.17 ± 1.39) were all above the midpoint; however, the subscales "the nursing staffing and resources adequacy" (2.72 ± 0.48), "hope" (4.33 ± 0.72), and "dedication" (2.96 ± 1.61)scored lowest. Nurses' practice environment and psychological capital positively predicted nurses' work engagement; psychological capital fully mediated the influence of nurses' practice environment on work engagement. CONCLUSIONS: Creating a supportive nursing practice environment can increase male nurses' work engagement by developing their psychological capital. Nurse managers can then provide reasonable workload and pathways for male nurses to achieve goals, thereby fostering their hope.

Improve nursing in evidence-based practice: How Chinese nurses' read and comprehend scientific literature.

OBJECTIVES: To examine Chinese nurses' practice of reading and understanding scientific literature and elucidate the motivating and deterring factors. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study conducted between March and June 2015. A random sample of 853 full-time registered nurses from three tertiary and two secondary hospitals in China filled out a set of self-administered questionnaires, including literature habit questionnaire(41 items), the situational motivation scale and the socio-demographic and professional characteristics questionnaire(15 items). RESULTS: Significant majority (89.2%) of the respondents reported perception of barriers to keeping up to date with literature. The language barrier was the most prominent, followed by poor presentation and readability of articles. Using simpler language when writing articles, improving ones' foreign language proficiency and getting education or training on nursing research were raised as the top facilitators. Additionally, reading and understanding literature was significantly associated with the nurses' educational background, motivation, genders and work settings. CONCLUSIONS: The survey of the current status of literature education among Chinese nurses suggests that providing protected time, training for critical thinking, and incentive mechanisms will help improve nurses' engagement in literature and create a culture of academic inquiry.