Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional regression method was used to meet the purpose of this study with the intent of objectively measuring and predicting nurse educators’ level of compassion fatigue and the degree of resilience on the intent-to-stay in academia. Three established instruments were used, the Professional Quality of Life Scale version 5 was used to measure compassion fatigue, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale was used to measure resilience, and the Price Scale on Intent to Stay was used to measure nurse educator intent-to-stay. The anonymous survey was developed and distributed through Qualtrics software, and the analysis was completed through Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 25.
Results: A total of 146 nurse educators were surveyed. The results indicated that compassion fatigue was a significant predictor of the intent-to-stay, explaining 3.6% of the variance (β = .19, p = .021). Approximately 73% of nurse educators reported a moderate to high-risk severity of burnout symptoms. While some nurse educators reported high compassion satisfaction (32%), others only had moderate to low compassion satisfaction scores (67.8%). The existing literature indicated resilience as a significant predictor of intent to stay. Although resilience was not a predictor of intent-to-stay in this study, burnout (p = .000) and compassion satisfaction (p = .000) were significant predictors of resilience, with burnout accounting for 4.5% of the variance and compassion satisfaction accounting for 26.4% of the variance.
Conclusion: This study provided the first evidence of recognizing that compassion fatigue existed among nurse educators in the United States, and indicated that nurse educators experiencing compassion fatigue were more likely to remain in their current academic positions. Nurse educators are one of the most essential tools in nursing student success and require intervention to maintain their overall health and sustain working in the stressful environment of academia. Nursing leaders have a responsibility to raise awareness, identify, and then provide the resources nurse educators need to overcome the symptoms of compassion fatigue. Developing strategies to promote compassion satisfaction and build resilience can have a positive impact on student success, job performance, fostering a supportive work environment, and increasing the likelihood of educators staying in their current positions.