A cross-sectional survey on compassion fatigue among emergency department nurses in Grade A tertiary hospitals in western China
Description
These data come from a cross-sectional survey on compassion fatigue among nurses in emergency departments at tertiary hospitals in Western China. The research used a cross-sectional type of survey design that comprised 31 tertiary hospitals throughout 12 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities of Western China. An online survey was administered to the registered nurses of the ED of the above-mentioned hospitals during the period between May 30 and October 30, 2025. The inclusion criteria were: (a) registered nurses working in the ED at the time of the survey; (b) a minimum of one year of full-time work in the ED; and (c) volunteerism with written informed consent. The exclusion criteria were: (a) individuals who had previously received compassion fatigue assessment, intervention, or related training; and (b) individuals who were not present on the day when data was collected because of their leave or other studies. To measure the level of CF among nurses, the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL)-5 developed by Stamm (Stamm, 2010) in 2010 was applied. There are three dimensions of the scale: compassion satisfaction (CS), burnout (BO), and secondary traumatic stress (STS). ProQOL-C specified cut-off values for three dimensions: CS<37, BO>27, and STS>17. Severity of CF was classified according to these cut-off points: "None" (none of the dimensions exceeds the cut-off points), "Mild" (one dimension exceeds the cut-off points), "Moderate" (two dimensions exceed the cut-off points), and "Severe" (all three dimensions exceed the cut-off points). CF severity was taken as the outcome variable to build the model in this study. It should be noted that the ProQOL is not a diagnostic tool; thus, the cut‑off points and severity stratification criteria used in this study are intended exclusively for model development. Variable coding: Sex: Male = 0, Female = 1 Education: Associate or below = 0, Bachelor’ s degree or above = 1 Professional title: Nurse: Reference group; Staff nurse (dummy1): No = 0, Yes = 1; Charge nurse (dummy2): No = 0, Yes = 1; Associate chief nurse or above (dummy3): No = 0, Yes = 1 Employment type: Permanent staff = 0, Contract staff = 1 Marital status: Unmarried = 0, Married = 1 Having children: No = 0, Yes = 1 Drink: No = 0, Yes = 1 Chronic pain: No = 0, Yes = 1 Insomnia frequency: Rarely = 1, Sometimes = 2, Frequently = 3 Exercise frequency: Rarely = 1, Sometimes = 2, Frequently = 3 Conflict frequency: Rarely = 1, Sometimes = 2, Frequently = 3 Job satisfaction: Very dissatisfied = 1, Dissatisfied = 2, Normal = 3, Satisfied = 4, Very satisfied = 5 Compassion fatigue (CF): None = 0, Mild = 1, Moderate = 2, Severe = 3 Note: There are discrepancies between some variable names in the data table and their official names. For example: title (staff) = staff nurse, title (charge) = charge nurse, title (associate) = associate chief nurse and above, MAAS=Mindfulness, CD_RISC=Resilience, SSRS=Social support, ELSEmotional labor
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Steps to reproduce
A stratified multistage sampling strategy with random selection of hospitals and a census of eligible ED nurses within selected hospitals. First, the 12 provinces (municipalities/autonomous regions) in Western China were considered as strata. In each stratum, a list of comprehensive tertiary hospitals (excluding traditional Chinese medicine, specialized, and private hospitals) was made as potential sampling units. The sample size for each stratum was allocated proportionally based on the registered nurse numbers in each region. Based on the number of ED nurses per hospital, the number of hospitals required to meet the survey sample size was determined, and hospitals were then selected by simple random sampling. The entire eligible ED nursing population that satisfied the inclusion/exclusion criteria was surveyed with the approval of the hospital administration.
Institutions
- Air Force Medical UniversityShaanxi, Xi'an