Professional quality of life and coping strategy of trauma nurses- a cross-sectional study

This study investigates the professional quality of life and coping strategies among trauma nurses in Qatar, aiming to understand the factors contributing to burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary traumatic stress.

Utilizing a cross-sectional design, data were collected from 156 trauma nurses at Hamad General Hospital between February and May 2023. The Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) and Brief-COPE were employed to measure compassion satisfaction, burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and coping strategies. Descriptive statistics, t-tests and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the data.

A total of 156 trauma unit nurses participated in the study. The majority of the nurses are aged 31 to 40 years (81.4%), married (89.7%), and hold a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree (87.2%). Female nurses report significantly lower burnout levels (23.0 ± 5.2) compared to male nurses (25.6 ± 5.4, p = 0.002). Nurses not wishing to continue in the trauma unit report higher burnout (30.1 ± 4.0) than those who do (23.5 ± 5.2, p = 0.001). Single nurses exhibit higher problem-focused coping scores (24.8 ± 5.0) compared to married nurses (22.0 ± 4.6, p = 0.023), and those in the Trauma Step Down Unit also show higher scores (24.9 ± 3.6), p = 0.026. Single) nurses use more emotion-focused coping strategies (33.7 ± 6.2) than married nurses (30.2 ± 6.0), p = 0.03), and those in the Trauma Step Down Unit report higher scores (34.7 ± 6.0), p = 0.004). Charge nurses/head nurses report lower avoidant coping scores (15.8 ± 3.3) compared to registered nurses (19.0 ± 4.7), p = 0.022).

These findings highlight the impact of personal and professional factors on nurses' coping strategies and professional quality of life. The study underscores the necessity of tailored interventions to support nurses' coping mechanisms, emphasizing the enhancement of problem-focused strategies and reduction of avoidant behaviors to improve overall well-being and job satisfaction.