Self-compassion and its association with occupational burnout among young and middle-aged nurses: a cross-sectional study in China

Objective To investigate the current status of self-compassion and occupational burnout and to examine their correlation among young and middle-aged nurses aged 18–45 years. Methods Using a combined purposive and convenience sampling strategy, a total of 564 young and middle-aged nurses aged 18–45 years from Zhejiang Province were enrolled between August 2024 and December 2024. Three instruments were administered: the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS), and a general demographic questionnaire. Results The overall mean self-compassion score of participants was 3.41 ± 0.50. The dimension scores, ranked from highest to lowest, were as follows: self-kindness (3.65 ± 0.78), mindfulness (3.56 ± 0.79), self-judgment (3.46 ± 0.81), common humanity (3.33 ± 0.76), isolation (3.32 ± 0.80), and over-identification (3.14 ± 0.80). All SCS dimensions are scored such that a higher score indicates a higher level of that trait; for the total score, higher scores reflect lower self-compassion. The nurses exhibited mild-to-moderate occupational burnout, with a total mean score of 2.57 ± 1.18. The subscale scores in descending order were emotional exhaustion (3.02 ± 1.59), depersonalization (2.34 ± 1.78), and reduced personal accomplishment (2.20 ± 1.52). The total self-compassion score was significantly negatively correlated with the total occupational burnout score (r = −0.523, p < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that self-compassion was a significant correlate of burnout, explaining 27.4% of the variance in total burnout scores. Conclusion Young and middle-aged nurses demonstrated a moderate level of self-compassion overall. Self-compassion was negatively associated with occupational burnout, such that lower self-compassion corresponded to more severe burnout. These findings suggest that nursing administrators should implement strategies to enhance nurses’ self-compassion competence as a potential approach to mitigating occupational burnout.