Moderated moderation effect of empathy and resilience on the relationship between geriatric care-related stress and geriatric nursing practice among secondary hospital nurses: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate whether empathy and resilience moderate the relationship between geriatric care-related stress and geriatric nursing practice among secondary hospital nurses.Methods: Data were collected from three secondary hospitals in J province from July 20, 2022, to August 10, 2022. Nurses with at least three months of employment were convenience sampled, and a structured questionnaire was used. A total of 218 questionnaires were included in the analysis. The collected data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 24.0 software.Results: Geriatric nursing practice was significantly positively correlated with geriatric care-related stress, empathy, and resilience. Empathy moderated the effects of geriatric care-related stress on geriatric nursing practice, and this moderating effect was re-moderated by resilience (moderated moderation effect). In other words, nurses with high resilience and empathy tended to show stronger geriatric nursing practice even with elevated geriatric care-related stress. Conversely, nurses with high resilience and low empathy tended to show weaker geriatric nursing practice with increasing geriatric care-related stress.Conclusion: These results highlight the need for multilateral efforts to reduce nurses’ stress related to geriatric care and enhance their empathy and resilience, ultimately promoting geriatric nursing practice. This study has important implications for nursing practice. Specifically, it is the first to confirm a moderated moderation effect of empathy and resilience on the relationship between geriatric care-related stress and geriatric nursing practice among nurses. Subsequent studies should identify whether other factors moderate the relationship between geriatric care-related stress and geriatric nursing practice.