Background
Secondary traumatic stress is acknowledged as a substantial psychological risk factor in nursing practice with the potential to negatively impact nurses’ mental health. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying the spiritual climate and secondary traumatic stress among ICU nurses.
Objectives
This study aimed to assess the spiritual climate, moral resilience, and secondary traumatic stress in Chinese ICU nurses and to investigate whether moral resilience mediates the relationship between spiritual climate and secondary traumatic stress.
Methods
A cross-sectional study design was used to recruit 229 intensive care unit nurses. The nurses completed online questionnaires comprising demographic characteristics, spiritual climate, moral resilience, and secondary traumatic stress. Data analysis and structural equation modeling were conducted using SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 24.0.
Results
STS scores were (38.42 ± 13.27). Secondary traumatic stress was correlated with spiritual climate and moral resilience (r1 = −0.370, r2 = −0.575; p < 0.01), and spiritual climate was positively correlated with moral resilience (r = 0.427; p < 0.01). A mediating effect of moral resilience between spiritual climate and secondary traumatic stress held (mediating effect of 0.235, 95 % CI: −2.108 to −0.823, accounting for 57.32 % of the total effect).
Conclusions
The spiritual climate has a significant direct influence on secondary traumatic stress in ICU nurses and serves to reduce their secondary traumatic stress through moral resilience. Creating a positive spiritual climate and enhancing the moral resilience of ICU nurses are effective methods to reduce their secondary traumatic stress.
Implications for clinical practice
This study highlights that the spiritual climate for ICU nurses can reduce their secondary traumatic stress, and that moral resilience diminishes the secondary traumatic stress related to the spiritual climate. Establishing support systems and improving the environment are primary tasks for nursing administrators. These include, but are not limited to, improving the spiritual climate of the department, providing moral resilience training, and taking other measures to prevent and regulate secondary traumatic stress in ICU nurses in order to maintain their mental health.