The Mediating Role of Psychological Resilience in the Relationship Between Presenteeism and Perioperative Competence in Operating Room Nurses

Purpose: This study examined the associations among presenteeism, psychological resilience, and perioperative competence in operating room nurses and whether psychological resilience statistically accounted for part of the association between presenteeism and perioperative competence. Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational study included 251 operating room nurses working in public and university hospitals in Türkiye. Data were collected using the Descriptive Information Form, the Perceived Perioperative Competence Scale-Revised, the four-item Turkish short form of the Stanford Presenteeism Scale, and the Brief Resilience Scale. Pearson correlation and mediation analyses were con-ducted using Hayes’ PROCESS macro, adjusting for age, gender, hospital type, professional experience, and shift type. An errors-in-variables sensitivity analysis was also performed. Results: Presenteeism was negatively associated with psychological resilience and perioperative competence, whereas psychological resilience was positively associated with perioperative competence (all p < 0.01). The indirect effect through psychological resilience was significant (ab = −0.410, 95% BC CI [−0.828, −0.123]) and accounted for 31.1% of the total effect. The direct effect did not reach statistical significance (c′ = −0.908, p = 0.066). The sensitivity analysis showed a similar pattern. Conclusions: Psychological resilience accounted for a modest but significant portion of the association between presenteeism and perioperative competence. Longitudinal studies are needed to clarify the temporal ordering of these relationships.