Stress coping and resilience of frontline nurses under the emergency infectious disease pandemic: A latent class analysis

Aim

This study aimed to classify coping strategies and resilience among nurses caring for COVID-19 patients using latent class analysis (LCA), and to compare variations across these subgroups.

Background

The pandemic of emerging infectious diseases is a traumatic stressor for frontline nurses, potentially leading to compassion fatigue. Effective coping strategies and resilience were essential for managing stress, but their nuanced classification and outcomes remain unclear.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted from January to March 2022. Purposive and snowball sampling was utilized to recruit participants.

Results

A total of 215 clinical nurses (mean age 34.59 years) were recruited. A three-class model showed the best fit: class 1 (35.8 %) with proactive coping and high resilience, class 2 (29.8 %) with mixed coping and high resilience, and class 3 (34.4 %) with avoidance coping and low resilience. Compared to class 3, class 1 participants had lower stress (Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.37, 95 % CI: 0.143–0.950, P = 0.039), reduced risk of compassion fatigue (OR = 0.29, 95 % CI: 1.110–4.536, P < 0.001), and lower intention to quit (OR = 0.39, 95 % CI: 0.175–0.843, P = 0.017). Class 2 participants, with higher proportion to live with family, had longer work experience, higher income, and also showed significantly reduced intention to quit (OR = 0.386, 95 % CI: 0.168–0.887, P = 0.025).

Conclusions

Identifying these vulnerable groups can help in providing interventions to reduce stress and prevent compassion fatigue and intention to quit.