6th Edition of World Nursing Science Conference 2026

Abstract

Background: The global shortage of nursing personnel has intensified in the post–COVID-19 era, particularly in emergency and critical care settings characterized by high patient acuity, sustained workload, frequent exposure to traumatic events, and substantial emotional labor. These work environments place emergency and critical care nurses at heightened risk of impaired professional quality of life (ProQOL), including burnout and secondary traumatic stress, which may subsequently undermine professional commitment and workforce stability. Although ProQOL and professional commitment are recognized as critical determinants of nurse retention and care quality, empirical evidence examining their multidimensional relationship among emergency and critical care nurses remains limited in Taiwan.
Purpose: This study aimed to examine the levels of professional quality of life and professional commitment among emergency and critical care nurses and to explore the relationships between ProQOL dimensions and professional commitment.

Methods: A cross-sectional correlational design was employed. A total of 110 emergency and critical care nurses were recruited from a regional teaching hospital in central Taiwan between February and March 2025. Data were collected using structured questionnaires, including demographic characteristics, the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL), which assesses compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress, and the Professional Commitment Scale, encompassing affective, continuance, and normative commitment. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 25.0, employing descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation analyses.

Results: Participants reported moderate levels of compassion satisfaction, burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and professional commitment across all dimensions. Compassion satisfaction demonstrated a strong positive correlation with affective professional commitment (r = .73, p < .01) and a moderate positive correlation with normative commitment (r = .53, p < .01), indicating its central role in sustaining nurses’ emotional attachment and sense of obligation to the profession. Burnout was significantly negatively correlated with both compassion satisfaction and affective commitment, while secondary traumatic stress showed a positive association with normative commitment, suggesting that professional obligation may persist despite emotional strain. Significant differences in ProQOL and professional commitment were observed across demographic variables, including age, years of service, job position, and unit type.

Conclusion: Emergency and critical care nurses exhibited only moderate levels of professional quality of life and professional commitment, highlighting the cumulative impact of prolonged exposure to high-stress and traumatic clinical environments. Compassion satisfaction emerged as a key protective factor strongly associated with professional commitment. These findings provide empirical support for organizational-level interventions aimed at enhancing compassion satisfaction, strengthening institutional support, and systematically addressing burnout and secondary traumatic stress to promote professional commitment and workforce retention in high-acuity clinical settings.