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The Relationship between Occupational Stress and Compassion Fatigue among
Chinese Intensive Care Unit Nurses: A Cross-sectional Study

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W. Xie and J. Wei 1

Department of Nursing, State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Center for Stomatology & National
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Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, China

Background: Occupational stress and compassion fatigue are negative variables that affect the
efficiency of nurses and quality of care. However, studies on the relationship between compassion
satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress with occupational stress among intensive care
unit (ICU) nurses in China are limited.

Objective: To investigate the predictors of compassion fatigue (compassion satisfaction, burnout,
and secondary traumatic stress) among ICU nurses and their relationship with occupational stress.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey according to the STROBE. The convenience sample method was
used to select 494 ICU nurses from five tertiary hospitals in Sichuan, China from September 2023
to December 2023. The self-designed general data questionnaire, Chinese Nurse Job Stressors
Oral Presentation Abstracts
Questionnaire, and Professional Quality of Life Scale were used in this study.

Results: The mean scores of compassion satisfaction, burnout, secondary traumatic stress and
occupational stress were 31.39±7.61, 27.67±6.16, 26.10±6.17 and 98.60±15.39, respectively. Job position,
daily diet, years of ICU working experience, job satisfaction, and occupational stress were significant
predictors for compassion satisfaction, which explained 30.7% of the total variance. As for burnout,
marital status, daily sleeping hours, occupational stress, job satisfaction, and daily diet were
independent factors and explained 42.2% of the total variance. In addition, gender, marital status,
and occupational stress explained 10.1% of the variance in secondary traumatic stress. There was a
significant negative correlation between occupational stress and compassion satisfaction and a
positive correlation with burnout and secondary traumatic stress.

Conclusion: The current study provides empirical evidence of the relationship between occupational
stress with compassion fatigue by a cross-sectional design. Occupational stress was the main
predictor of compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction. Nursing managers should attach
more importance to the adverse consequences of occupational stress and compassion fatigue,
develop effective interventions to reduce nurses’ occupational stressors, and improve compassion
satisfaction while lowering compassion fatigue.

Keywords: compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, burnout, secondary traumatic stress,
occupational stress, Intensive Care Unit nurses

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Correspondence: Wanqing Xie, Department of Nursing, State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases &
National Center for Stomatology & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China
Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, China
E-mail: 2402232362@qq.com

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