Relationship Between Sleep-Related Worry, Compassion Fatigue, and Retention Intention Among Nurses: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study.

Authors

Feng Peng, Xiaoying Zeng, Jue Wu

Published in

Journal of nursing management. Volume 2026. Issue 1. Pages e7964982.

Abstract

To examine the current situation of sleep-related worry, compassion fatigue, and retention intention among nurses in general hospitals in China, and explore whether there might be any connection among the three.
This study adopts a cross-sectional and descriptive design.
From January to February 2024, a survey was conducted on 1831 on-duty nurses from eight tertiary general hospitals in China (Sichuan, Hubei, and Shenzhen) using a convenience sampling method. The survey instruments included general information questionnaires, The Anxiety and Preoccupation about Sleep Questionnaire, The Compassion Fatigue Short Scale, and The Questionnaire for Nurse Intention to Remain Employed. Collected data were subsequently analyzed.
The mean scores for sleep-related worry, compassion fatigue, and retention intention among nurses in general hospitals in China were 30.40 ± 11.28, 48.03 ± 27.26, and 22.79 ± 3.71, respectively. Significant negative correlations were observed between retention intention and both compassion fatigue and sleep-related worry, while a significant positive correlation was found between sleep-related worry and compassion fatigue. Furthermore, compassion fatigue partially mediated the relationship between sleep-related worry and retention intention, with the mediation effect accounting for 65.15% of the total effect.
This study indicates that nurses' sleep-related worry and compassion fatigue may be related to their retention intention.
This study reveals that there may be a certain connection between nurses' sleep-related worry, compassion fatigue, and retention intention. It is suggested that nursing managers should prioritize improving nurses' sleep quality, alleviating their sleep-related worry, and enhancing organizational support. These measures may to some extent alleviate the phenomenon of compassion fatigue and even change the retention intention of nurses, thereby effectively curbing the brain drain of talents.

PMID:
42363643
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 27 Jun 2026.

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