The impact of resilience on turnover intention in dialysis nurses: The mediating effects of work engagement and compassion fatigue

Abstract

Aim: To describe the levels of turnover intention, and to explore the mediating effects of work engagement and compassion fatigue on the relationship between resilience and turnover intention in dialysis nurses.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to recruit 496 dialysis nurses in 25 tertiary hospitals in Sichuan province, China. Structural equation modeling technique was used to examine the mediating roles of work engagement and compassion fatigue on the association between resilience and turnover intention.

Results: The prevalence of high and exceptionally high levels of turnover intention in dialysis nurses were 56.8% (282 nurses) and 8.7% (43 nurses), respectively. Resilience was a significant and direct contributor to work engagement (standardized direct effect = 0.62, p < .001) and compassion fatigue (standardized direct effect = -0.35, p < .001), respectively. However, resilience had no direct and significant effect on turnover intention (standardized direct effect = 0.15, p > .05). Work engagement and compassion fatigue had direct and significant effects on turnover intention (standardized direct effect = -0.40, p < .001; standard direct effect = 0.31, p < .001). Resilience affected turnover intention indirectly and significantly via the whole mediating effects of work engagement and compassion fatigue (standardized indirect effect = -0.36, p < .001).

Conclusion: Higher resilience leads to lower turnover intention via enhancing work engagement and reducing compassion fatigue in dialysis nurses. Nursing policies should be established to promote resilience training, enhance work engagement and reduce compassion fatigue in order to alleviate turnover intention in dialysis nurses.

Keywords: compassion fatigue; dialysis; nurses; resilience; turnover intention; work engagement.