<p>Effects of job conditions, occupational stress, and emotional intelligence on chronic fatigue among Chinese nurses: a cross-sectional study</p>

Abstract

Purpose: Nurses are undertaking considerable emotional and physical work, which may lead to unrecoverable fatigue. This study aimed to evaluate the level of chronic fatigue and explore its associated factors among Chinese nurses in the hope of providing scientific evidence for fatigue-reduction strategies. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in Liaoning Province, China in 2018. The study recruited 700 nurses and collected 566 effective respondents. Chronic fatigue, demographic factors, job conditions, and emotional intelligence were assessed through questionnaires. Chronic fatigue was assessed with the Fatigue Scale 11, occupational stress with the Effort–Reward Imbalance Questionnaire, and emotional intelligence with the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to explore factors related to chronic fatigue and to test the moderating effect of emotional intelligence on the association between occupational stress and chronic fatigue. Simple slope analysis was conducted to visualize the interaction. Results: The mean score of chronic fatigue among the Chinese nurses was 17.14±6.16. Being married, having long weekly work time, working night shifts, and discontent with the nurse–patient relationship were positively associated with chronic fatigue. Effort:reward ratio, overcommitment, and emotional intelligence were important factors related to chronic fatigue. Emotional intelligence played a moderating role in the relationship between the effort:reward ratio and chronic fatigue. When emotional intelligence was higher, the effect of the effort:reward ratio on chronic fatigue became weaker. Conclusion: Most nurses surveyed in China might have relatively high levels of chronic fatigue. Our results highlight the importance of interventions on these factors for the reduction of fatigue among nurses in China. Providing more opportunities and support and developing emotional intelligence are crucial strategies to reduce chronic fatigue among nurses in China.

Work stress among Chinese nurses to support Wuhan in fighting against COVID‐19 epidemic

“…Consistent with other studies(Huang et al, 2019;Triana-Palencia et al, 2019;Wu et al, 2020), long working time per week increased stress, which may be correlated with the fear of infection, excessive physical consumption, etc. COVID-19 infection is caused by respiratory droplet and close contact transmission; this infection is highly contagious (e.g., social network or clinical setting; Notice on Issuing a New Coronary Virus Pneumonia Diagnosis and Treatment Plan [Trial Version 6], 2020).…”

Associations of occupational stress, workplace violence, and organizational support on chronic fatigue syndrome among nurses

“…Overcommitment indicates the tendency to overwork. The Chinese version had been used in previous study (Huang et al, ). The Cronbach's α coefficients of extrinsic effort, reward, overcommitment, and total scale were 0.88, 0.94, 0.82, and 0.94 respectively.…”

“…Scales demonstrated good internal consistency in this present research: Cronbach's α = 0.823 for workplace violence, Cronbach's α = 0.880 for organizational support and Cronbach's α = 0.937 for occupational stress. All scales were used as Chinese versions and had been used in previous studies in China (Huang et al, ; Lin et al, ; Wang et al, ). These scales had also been used in our previous studies.…”

“…Occupational stress has been considered as one of the most important risk factors that exist in workplace, especially among nurses (Huang et al, ). Occupational stress is defined as a kind of psychological state, which refers to the response individuals may have when the ability and knowledge of individuals are not sufficient to cope with work demands and pressure (World Health Organization, ).…”

“…As an indispensable part of the labour force in the medical systems, nurses are under tremendous psychological stress in daily work. Sustained occupational stress will lead to chronic health problems, such as depression, anxiety, insomnia, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular diseases and even chronic fatigue (Chen et al, ; Huang et al, ; Steege et al, ; Welsh, ). The Effort‐Reward Imbalance model (ERI) reveals that these adverse health outcomes are probably due to high effort and low rewards (de Araújo et al, ; Siegrist et al, ).…”