Putative buffering roles of two-way social support and psychological resilience in the association between nurse-patient conflict and situational emotional response: a cross-sectional correlational study among Chinese nursing interns

Nurse-patient conflict acts as a common stressor for nursing interns during clinical training. Existing research fails to empirically verify the synergistic buffering pathways of two-way social support and psychological resilience on interns’ situational emotional responses in Chinese clinical settings. This study aimed to describe interns’ emotional response status under nurse-patient conflicts and explore relevant associated factors. A cross-sectional correlational design was adopted. A total of 423 eligible nursing interns with conflict experience were recruited from six Henan hospitals via convenience sampling between August and October 2025. Three validated scales (ERES, Brief Two-Way Social Support Scale, CD-RISC) were adopted for data collection, with Pearson correlation, multiple linear regression and SEM used for statistical analysis. The average situational emotional response score was 124.49 ± 21.73; situational emotional perception obtained the lowest subscore. Two-way social support ( r = 0.682, p < 0.01) and psychological resilience ( r = 0.512, p < 0.01) were positively correlated with emotional response. Conflict frequency, two-way social support and psychological resilience served as independent associated predictors, and the SEM confirmed their positive associative pathways. Nursing interns showed moderately high situational emotional response but weak emotional perception. Frequent nurse-patient conflicts were negatively correlated with emotional functioning, whereas two-way social support and psychological resilience served as protective correlates. Based on cross-sectional data, we recommend targeted emotion perception training and regular mutual support channels for interns; systematic intervention schemes need subsequent verification. Not applicable.