Gender as a sensor of nurses' depression, compassion fatigue and resilience

Gender is a sensor in certain professional psychological risks. One of those professions is nursing; it has a humanistic nature that is double-loaded with triggers of negative psychological sequelae such as depression and compassion fatigue. To help male and female nurses cope successfully with variable trauma, resilience pathways are activated, yet using different mechanisms. The purpose of this study was to assess the differences in depression, compassion fatigue, and resilience based on gender and the variables of education, marital status, and income.

631 hospital-based nurses participated in this correlational descriptive study. Measurements included a demographic survey, depression risk score measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies of Depression Scale (CESD), compassion fatigue score by Charles Figley, and resilience score measured by Connor-Davidson resilience scale-10 items. Analysis used descriptive statistics for gender, health sector, education, marital status, income, and department. Student t-test and ANOVA were used to investigate the differences in depression, compassion fatigue, and resilience based on gender, education, marital status, and income.

Male nurses significantly reported higher depression levels (t (629) = 4.8, p <.001, M = 29.1, SD = 10.3) than female nurses (M = 27.2, SD = 9.2). They reported significantly higher compassion fatigue (t (629) = 4.8, p <.001, M = 46,9, SD = 24.3) when compared to female nurses (M = 38.2, SD = 21.3). There was no gender-based difference in resilience scores between male (t = 0.037, P =.97 >.05), M = 23.7, SD = 7.8)) and female nurses (M = 23.7, SD = 8.2). There were no significant differences in depression, compassion fatigue, and resilience based on other demographic variables such as education, marital status, and income (p >.05). Depression had little negative relationship with resilience (r = -.116, p =.004) and a moderate positive relationship with compassion fatigue (r =.529, p <.001).

Nurses' male gender showed dominance in depression and compassion fatigue over nurses' female gender. Resilience capabilities were generally the same between the two genders. Nevertheless, for both genders, compassion fatigue and depression risks were high and resilience scores were low. The negative relationship between depression and resilience suggests that health authorities should promote nurses' mental health to increase resilience capacities. Adopting gender-sensitive approaches in research and clinical practice in nurses' mental health is increasingly recommended with special cultural and contextual considerations.