Research Information System
BMC Nursing, vol.25, no.1, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, SSCI, Scopus)
Background: Intensive care nurses are frequently exposed to emotionally demanding environments that challenge their ability to sustain compassionate care. These stressors may compromise their emotional well-being, leading to compassion fatigue, burnout, and reduced quality of caring behaviors. This study aimed to examine the relationship between compassion fatigue, burnout, and caring behaviors among intensive care nurses. Method: This correlational and cross-sectional study was conducted in adult ICUs of several public and private hospitals across Türkiye between October 2024 and April 2025. A total of 323 ICU nurses who met the inclusion criteria voluntarily completed an online Google Forms survey. Data were collected using a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Compassionate Love Scale, the Short Compassion Fatigue Scale, the Burnout Syndrome Assessment Scale for ICU Nurses, and the Caring Behaviors Inventory-24. Descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, and partial mediation analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics (Version 27.0). The study was reported in accordance with the STROBE guidelines. Results: All nurses who were enrolled in the study provided complete responses. Most participants were female (81.1%) and held a bachelor’s degree (90.4%). The mean age was 30.4 ± 5.68 years, and the mean duration of professional experience was 8.5 ± 8.3 years. The mean scores for compassionate love, compassion fatigue, burnout, and caring behaviors were 99.7 ± 14.8, 68.7 ± 21.7, 44.5 ± 18.6, and 4.74 ± 0.94, respectively. Compassionate love was negatively correlated with compassion fatigue (r = −0.36, p < 0.001) and burnout (r = −0.30, p < 0.001), and positively correlated with caring behaviors (r = 0.30, p < 0.001). Compassion fatigue was positively correlated with burnout (r = 0.42, p < 0.001) and negatively with caring behaviors (r = −0.26, p < 0.001). Partial mediation analyses showed that compassion fatigue partially mediated the relationship between compassionate love and both burnout (β = −0.127, 95% CI = −0.188, −0.069) and caring behaviors (β = 0.062, 95% CI = 0.018, 0.108). Given the cross-sectional design of the study, causal inferences could not be established. Conclusion: Compassion fatigue partially mediates the relationships between compassionate love, burnout, and caring behaviors among intensive care nurses. These findings indicate that compassion fatigue is a key factor linking the emotional capacities of nurses to burnout and caring behaviors in clinical practice, while also highlighting the relevance of compassion-related constructs for nursing education, research, and management in intensive care settings. Clinical Implications: Compassion fatigue is a clinically relevant factor associated with burnout and caring behaviors, indicating its importance in identifying nurses at risk for reduced quality of care in intensive care settings.