The Mediating Role of Self-Differentiation in the Relationship Between Moral Distress, Compassions Fatigue and Work-family Conflict in Nurses

Many nurses are involved in work-family conflicts due to the nature of the nursing profession and high workload. Identification of the factors related to work-family conflict can help reduce or control this conflict. Compassion fatigue and moral distress are some of the factors that may affect the work-family conflict of nurses. This study aims to determine the mediating role of self-differentiation in the relationship between compassion fatigue, moral distress and work-family conflict among nurses.

This is a descriptive-correlational study. The study population includes all married nurses from eight public hospitals in Kerman, Iran. Of these, 159 were selected using a convenience sampling method. Data were collected using the subscale of compassion fatigue in the professional quality of life scale, the moral distress scale, the work-family conflict scale, and the self-differentiation inventory-short form. They were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

 Compassion fatigue, moral distress and self-differentiation could significantly predict work-family conflict in nurses (P<0.05). Self-differentiation was not only directly related to work-family conflict, but also indirectly affected it by reducing moral distress and compassion fatigue.

Self-differentiation skills can help reduce the compassion fatigue and moral stress in nurses and thus reduce their work-family conflicts.