Compassion fatigue prevalence and risk factors among Saudi psychiatric nurses: A cross-sectional study

In recent times, compassion fatigue is increasingly being recognized as a damaging outcome associated with the stress experienced by psychiatric nurses. In addition to affecting their job performance work-related stress undermines nurses’ physical and emotional well-being. However, there is a lack of research on compassion fatigue that specifically focuses on psychiatric nurses working in Saudi Arabia. This cross-sectional study investigated the prevalence and factors associated with compassion fatigue among Saudi psychiatric nurses. The study participants were asked to complete a demographic questionnaire and the Arabic form of the Professional Quality of Life Scale. Statistical analyses, including one-way ANOVA, t-tests, the Levene test, and multiple linear regression, were employed to assess variables related to compassion fatigue. The survey spanned 158 psychiatric nurses from the Mental Health Complex located in Riyadh City. The mean scores for compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress were 39.72 ± 6.881, 24.29 ± 5.386, and 26.94 ± 6.973, respectively. The analysis revealed that variables such as age range (36–55 years) and an associated degree or lower explained 5.2% of the variance in compassion satisfaction. Age range (18–25 years), exercise frequency, and years of nursing experience collectively accounted for 8.4% of the variables contributing to burnout. The age range (25 to 35 years) and working night shifts also explained 5% of the variance in secondary traumatic stress. The findings indicated that compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress among the population of psychiatric nurses working in Saudi Arabia were at a moderate level. A higher frequency of healthy lifestyle practices, such as regular exercise, and being in an older age range, were positively associated with compassion satisfaction and negatively associated with burnout and secondary traumatic stress.