Psychological resilience and professional quality of life among surgical nurses: a cross-sectional study

This study aimed to examine the relationship between psychological resilience and professional quality of life among nurses working in surgical units, with a focus on compassion satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue. Surgical nurses work in highly stressful environments that may compromise their psychological resilience and professional quality of life, leading to burnout and compassion fatigue. Despite its clinical importance, evidence focusing specifically on surgical nurses remains limited. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted between June and December 2024 among 244 surgical nurses working in the provinces of İzmir and Manisa, located in the western region of Turkey. Data were collected via an online survey including a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), and the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL). Descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests were used for analysis, along with Spearman’s correlation to assess relationships between variables. The mean BRS score was 19.24 ± 4.19. Subscale scores for the ProQOL were as follows: compassion satisfaction (37.47 ± 8.86), burnout (18.55 ± 7.31), and compassion fatigue (19.38 ± 9.42). Psychological resilience was positively correlated with compassion satisfaction (rs=0.384, p < 0.01) and negatively correlated with burnout (rs = − 0.550, p < 0.01) and compassion fatigue (rs = − 0.419, p < 0.01). Nurses with higher psychological resilience, greater job satisfaction, and more favorable working conditions reported significantly better professional quality of life outcomes. This study demonstrated that psychological resilience is a key factor positively influencing the professional quality of life among surgical nurses. Higher levels of resilience were associated with increased compassion satisfaction and decreased levels of burnout and compassion fatigue.