Latent Profiles of Publication Pressure Among Nurses and Associated Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study

To explore the heterogeneity of publication pressure among nursing staff by identifying latent profiles and examining associated factors, with the aim of informing targeted research support and individualized stress-management strategies.

A cross-sectional study.

Between April and September 2025, 508 nursing staff members were recruited by convenience sampling from a tertiary hospital in Guangzhou, China. Participants completed measures of publication pressure, nursing research competence, general self-efficacy, and job burnout. Latent profile analysis identified publication-pressure profiles, and a bias-adjusted three-step multinomial regression examined factors associated with profile membership while accounting for classification uncertainty.

Four publication-pressure profiles were identified: low-demand/limited-resource, moderate-pressure, high-demand/resource-supported, and high-demand/resource-constrained. Age, education level, marital status, work stress, and financial stress showed profile-specific associations. Higher nursing research competence and general self-efficacy were associated with lower odds of membership in the two high-demand profiles.

Publication pressure among nursing staff is heterogeneous, and nurses with similarly high publication demands may differ substantially in available resources. Distinguishing these patterns provides a practical basis for targeted nursing research management.

Profile-based management can help nursing managers match protected research time, mentorship, methodological support, and psychological resource support to nurses with different demand-resource patterns, especially those with high demands and constrained resources.

This study addresses heterogeneity in nurses' publication pressure and identifies four distinct demand-resource patterns. The findings can inform more precise allocation of research support in tertiary hospitals and comparable clinical nursing settings.

The study was reported in accordance with the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guideline.

No patients or members of the public were involved because the study focused on nurses' occupational and research-related experiences rather than patient-facing interventions or outcomes.