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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Occupational Health and Safety
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1402532
This article is part of the Research Topic From Safety to Sense of Safety View all 13 articles

Understanding the interplay of compassion fatigue and moral resilience on moral distress in ICU nurses : A cross-sectional study

Provisionally accepted
Jin Yin Jin Yin *Lili Zhao Lili Zhao Na Zhang Na Zhang Hui Xia Hui Xia
  • Department of intensive care unit, The Affiliated Huaian No.1 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Hua'an, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurses frequently confront significant psychological challenges, including compassion fatigue, moral distress, and diminished moral resilience. These issues not only affect their well-being but also impact the quality of care provided to patients. The interplay of these factors is complex and not fully understood, particularly how compassion fatigue influences the relationship between moral resilience and moral distress.Objectives: To explore the complex interplay between compassion fatigue and moral distress among ICU nurses, and to elucidate how compassion fatigue influences the protective role of moral resilience against moral distress.Research Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a nationwide random sample of ICU nurses in China. Latent profile analysis identified subgroups based on levels of compassion fatigue. Moderation analysis examined whether compassion fatigue moderated the association between moral resilience and moral distress.Results: Among 612 ICU nurses, latent profile analysis revealed three distinct groups with high, moderate, and low levels of compassion fatigue. Being female was protective against high compassion fatigue, while ages 30-49 yrs, lack of bachelor's degree, and dissatisfaction with salary increased compassion fatigue risk. Moderation analysis showed compassion fatigue significantly moderated the relationship between moral resilience and moral distress. Nurses with higher compassion fatigue exhibited a stronger association between low moral resilience and high moral distress. Conclusions: Compassion fatigue and moral distress are interconnected phenomena among ICU nurses. Demographic factors like gender, age, education, and income satisfaction impact compassion fatigue risk. High compassion fatigue impairs moral resilience, exacerbating moral distress. Comprehensive interventions targeting both compassion fatigue and moral resilience, tailored to nurses' demographic profiles, are needed to support this workforce.

    Keywords: compassion fatigue, Moral distress, Moral resilience, ICU nurses, Latent profiles, Moderation effect, Cross-sectional study

    Received: 17 Mar 2024; Accepted: 15 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yin, Zhao, Zhang and Xia. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jin Yin, Department of intensive care unit, The Affiliated Huaian No.1 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Hua'an, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.