The Mediating Effect of Organisational Support Between Change Fatigue and Adaptive Performance Among ICU Nurses: A...

The main purpose of this hypothesis-driven study was to assess levels of change fatigue, adaptive performance and organisational support among ICU nurses; to explore the effects of change fatigue and organisational support on adaptive performance; and to examine the mediating role of organisational support in the relationship between change fatigue and adaptive performance.

A multi-site, cross-sectional survey.

From February to April 2025, 621 ICU nurses from 12 public secondary and tertiary hospitals in Guizhou, Zhejiang, Anhui and Hebei Provinces were recruited via convenience sampling. A questionnaire assessed their change fatigue, perceived organisational support and adaptive performance.

The surveyed ICU nurses in this study exhibited moderate change fatigue, adaptive performance and perceived organisational support. Change fatigue was negatively correlated with both adaptive performance and perceived organisational support (both p < 0.05), while adaptive performance was positively correlated with perceived organisational support (p < 0.05). Perceived organisational support mediated between change fatigue and adaptive performance, accounting for 29.17% of the total effect.

The level of change fatigue can directly affect adaptive performance and influence it indirectly through the mediating role of organisational support. Managers should establish a multidimensional organisational support system to enhance the adaptive performance of ICU nurses.

The findings of this cross-sectional study suggest administrators provide both instrumental and emotional support to ICU nurses to mitigate change fatigue, and recommend implementing resource depletion alert systems and adopting targeted interventions.

No patient or public contribution. This study did not involve patients, service users, caregivers or members of the public.