Prevalence and risk factors of compassion fatigue in gynecological and obstetric nurses: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: This study systematically evaluated the incidence and influencing factors of compassion fatigue (CF) among obstetric and gynecological nurses. Methods: Retrieve the cross-sectional study on the current occurrence status of CF among obstetric and gynecological nurses in the Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, CBM, CNKI, VIP and WANFANG database. Database were searched from the database establishment to September 8, 2024. Literature screening, data extraction and bias risk assessment were performed independently by two researchers. Stata17.0 software was used for meta-analysis. Results: A total of 15 studies involving 6,799 obstetrics and gynecology nurses were included in the analysis. The meta-analysis results indicated that the incidence of moderate to severe CF among these nurses was 77.6% (ES = 0.776, 95% CI: 0.725–0.827). Additionally, the scores for compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary trauma were 29.835 (95% CI: 27.703–31.967), 28.116 (95% CI: 25.458–30.775), and 25.021 (95% CI: 21.681–28.360), respectively, all exceeding the critical threshold, indicating a high risk of CF in obstetrics and gynecology nurses. The identified influencing factors for CF included exposure to traumatic events, number of children, social support, sleep quality, health status, years of service, and hospital region and grade. Conclusion: The prevalence of CF among obstetrics and gynecology nurses is notably high, necessitating the implementation of individualized intervention strategies based on the identified influencing factors.