‘Caring for the helpers’: factors associated with professional quality of life among Hong Kong nurses during the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic and work-related characteristics of the participants (N = 220).

	Frequency (%)
Age (years)^a
18–29	18 (8.2)
30–39	66 (30.0)
40–49	62 (28.2)
50–59	65 (29.5)
≥ 60	8 (3.6)
Refused to answer	1 (0.5)
Female gender^a	189 (85.9)
Marital status
Single	85 (38.6)
Married	123 (55.9)
Separated/divorced/widowed	12 (5.5)
Monthly household income (HK$)
≤ 30,000	8 (5.9)
30,001–50,000	46 (20.9)
50,001–70,000	82 (37.3)
> 70,000	64 (29.1)
Refused to answer	15 (6.8)
Having a religious affiliation	81 (36.8)
Work mode
Full-time	203 (92.3)
Part-time	17 (7.7)
Years in the profession
< 5	14 (6.4)
6–10	49 (22.3)
11–15	18 (8.2)
16–20	18 (8.2)
> 20	74 (33.6)
Refused to answer	47 (21.4)
Work setting^a
Public	152 (69.1)
Private	31 (14.1)
Other (e.g. non-governmental organization)	37 (16.8)
Having experience working in the team caring for COVID-19 patients	85 (38.6)
Having a prior diagnosis of COVID-19	72 (32.7)
Having participated in mental health-related workshops/activities	42 (19.1)
Having participated in workshops as a trainee for healthcare workers’ adjustment to work-related crisis situations	24 (10.9)
Professional quality of life
Moderate-to-high level of compassion satisfaction (≥ 23)	215 (97.7)
Moderate-to-high level of secondary traumatic stress (≥ 23)	150 (68.2)
Moderate-to-high level of burnout (≥ 23)	155 (70.5)

Note: ^aBased on the recent statistics on the characteristics of registered nurses (Department of Health, 2019), about 86.7% of nurses in Hong Kong were female. The median age of registered nurses was about 43 years old. Most of the registered nurses in Hong Kong worked in public settings (e.g. in hospitals operated by the Hospital Authority) (64.9%), followed by 18% in the private sector, and 16.1% in other settings. The characteristics of the current sample were generally comparable to those of the registered nurse population.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics and correlations among major variables (N = 220).

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
1. Compassion satisfaction	–
2. Burnout	−.66***	–
3. Secondary traumatic stress	−.13	.59***	–
4. Age^a	.12	−.17**	.00	–
5. COVID-19 uncertainties and worries	−.15*	.33***	.35***	−.19**	–
6. Clinical work environment stressor	−.20**	.49***.	.35***	−.20**	.56***	–
7. Emotional support	.46***	−.39***	−.16*	−.05	−.10	−.07	–
8. Tangible support	.32***	−.24***	.03	−.05	−.03	−.04	.66***	–
9. Healthcare system communication support^a	.23***	−.34***	−.14*	.22***	−.31***	−.30***	−.20**	.15*	–
10. Support for infected nurses and their families^a	.13	−.21**	−.10	.12	−.34***	−.29***	.12	.14*	.33***	–
11. Emotional processing	.26***	−.05	.14*	−.09	.01	−.04	.27***	.24***	.09	.11	–
12. Emotional expression	.29***	−.20**	−.00	−.12	−.13	−.05	.36***	.23***	.17*	.15*	.59***	–
13. Positive reframing	.42***	−.47***	−.20**	.12	−.22***	−.23***	.37***	.24***	.23**	.20**	.35***	.48***	–
14. Acceptance	.25***	−.23***	−.11	−.04	−.07	−.05	.17*	.03	.17*	.07	.21**	.35***	.56***	–
Mean	35.89	25.26	24.70	2.93	3.03	2.94	3.29	2.91	4.27	3.46	2.40	2.49	2.89	3.03
Standard deviation	5.91	5.42	5.13	1.09	0.90	0.93	0.72	0.82	1.39	1.74	0.76	0.77	0.81	0.90
Skewness	−0.27	0.40	0.27	0.36	−0.07	0.32	−0.01	−0.20	−0.20	0.40	0.39	0.43	0.07	−0.27
Kurtosis	0.30	0.20	0.33	0.97	−0.13	−0.27	−0.33	−0.40	−0.58	−0.88	−0.32	−0.48	−0.92	−0.84
Cronbach’s alpha	.90	.81	.81	N/A	.83	.84	.73	.79	N/A	N/A	.61	.82	.79	.81

Note: ^aAge: 18–29 (1), 30–39 (2), 40–49 (3), 50–59 (4), ≥ 60 years (5). ‘Healthcare system communication support’: organizational support for timely communication with the healthcare system; ‘Support for infected nurses and their families’: organizational support for COVID-19-diagnosed nurses and their families.

*p ≤ .05, **p ≤ .01, ***p ≤ .001.

Table 3. Hierarchical regression analyses explaining professional quality of life (N = 220).

Variables	Compassion satisfaction		Secondary traumatic stress		Burnout
	β	ΔR^2	β	ΔR^2	β	ΔR^2
Step 1: Background variable		0.01		0.00		0.03*
Age^a	.12		.00		−17**
Step 2: COVID-19 worries and distress		0.03*		0.17***		0.22***
Age^a	.08		.09		−.07
COVID-19 uncertainties and worries	−.04		.24**		.08
Clinical work environment stressor	−.16*		.24**		.44***
Step 3: Coping resources		0.21***		0.05*		0.14***
Age^a	.10		.09		−.07
COVID-19 uncertainties and worries	.02		.22**		.02
Clinical work environment stressor	−.13		.25***		.41***
Emotional support	.41***		−.27***		−.36***
Tangible support	.04		.23**		.03
Healthcare system communication support^a	.09		−.01		−.13*
Support for infected nurses and their families^a	.01		.03		.01
Step 4: Coping strategies		0.06**		0.06**		0.07***
Age^a	.09		.13*		−.04
COVID-19 uncertainties and worries	.02		.21**		.00
Clinical work environment stressor	−.12		.21**		.37***
Emotional support	.32***		−.27***		−.28***
Tangible support	.04		.21**		.02
Healthcare system communication support^a	.06		−.02		−.12*
Support for infected nurses and their families^a	−.02		.02		.02
Emotional processing	.10		.23**		.11
Emotional expression	−.01		.04		.01
Positive reframing	.18*		−.17*		−.30***
Acceptance	.06		−.00		−.01
Total R^2		0.32		0.27		0.46

Note: ^aAge: 18–29 (1), 30–39 (2), 40–49 (3), 50–59 (4), ≥ 60 years (5). ‘Healthcare system communication support’: organizational support for timely communication with the healthcare system; ‘Support for infected nurses and their families’: organizational support for COVID-19-diagnosed nurses and their families.

*p ≤ .05, **p ≤ .01, ***p ≤ .001.

Department of Health. (2019) Summary of the Characteristics of Registered Nurse Enumerated. Secondary Summary of the Characteristics of Registered Nurse Enumerated. https://www.dh.gov.hk/english/statistics/statistics_hms/sumrn19.html.

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Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Acknowledgement

Special thanks to the Association of Hong Kong Nursing Staff for coordinating the nurse recruitment procedure.