Latent profile analysis of change fatigue among clinical nurses: a cross-sectional study

To identify latent subgroups of change fatigue among clinical nurses and explore their associations with work engagement.

Between February and May 2025, clinical nurses from 13 public hospitals in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, northwestern China, were enrolled using convenience sampling. Data were gathered using a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Change Fatigue Scale, and the Chinese version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. All analyses were completed in SPSS 26.0 and Mplus 8.1. Latent profile analysis was used to analyze their change fatigue subgroups. The R3STEP method was applied to identify predictors of profile membership, and the BCH method was employed to compare differences in work engagement across subgroups.

Of the 2,482 participants, the total score of change fatigue was 26.67 ± 9.97. Three latent subgroups of change fatigue were identified: 'Low change fatigue group' (24.21%), 'Moderate change fatigue group' (46.62%), and 'High change fatigue group' (29.17%). The distribution of these profiles was significantly associated with years of service, hospital grade, monthly income and change exposure. Moreover, these change fatigue profiles were negatively associated with nurse work engagement. Specifically, work engagement was significantly higher in the low change fatigue group than in the moderate and high groups, with no significant difference between the moderate and high groups.

Clinical nurses exhibited three distinct change fatigue profiles, highlighting substantial heterogeneity. Years of service, hospital grade, monthly income and change exposure were key demographic predictors of profile membership. The study demonstrates that different change fatigue profiles were significantly associated with work engagement of clinical nurses, suggesting that reducing nurses' change fatigue is essential for improving their work engagement.