Abstract
BACKGROUND: Nurses, as the largest professional group in the healthcare industry, often face different psychological problems, among which depressive symptoms is the most common. This study used the latent class analysis (LCA) to classify nurses' depressive symptoms, analyzing the differences in their second victim experience and support, psychological empowerment, and psychological detachment, providing reference for promoting nurses' mental health. METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional study, using cluster sampling to select nurses from tertiary hospitals in Liaoning Province from January to May 2024. Self-report questionnaires through Wenjuanxing were distributed, and 1719 nurses effectively completed the survey. The questionnaires included the Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Scale-9 item, the Chinese version of the Second Victim Experience and Support Tool, the Psychological Empowerment Scale, and the Recovery Experience Questionnaire. Mplus 8.3 software was used to conduct LCA, and SPSS 26.0 software was used for chi-square tests and analysis of variance. RESULTS: Depressive symptoms was classified into three types: "Non depressive group" (40.5%), "Potential depressive symptoms group" (47.6%), and "Severe depressive symptoms group" (11.9%). Nurses with higher levels of physiological distress and career difficulties were more likely to develop potential depressive symptoms (OR = 1.120, 95%CI = 1.057-1.185; OR = 1.070, 95%CI = 1.034-1.107) or severe depressive symptoms (OR = 1.312, 95%CI = 1.187-1.451; OR = 1.171, 95%CI = 1.102-1.244). Nurses with higher levels of management support were less likely to develop severe depressive symptoms (OR = 0.930, 95%CI = 0.898-0.964). Nurses with higher levels of psychological empowerment were less likely to develop potential depressive symptoms (OR = 0.976, 95%CI = 0.963-0.989) or severe depressive symptoms (OR = 0.960, 95%CI = 0.941-0.979). CONCLUSION: The cross-sectional design cannot determine the causal relationship between the support system and the relief of depressive symptoms. This study still revealed significant individual differences in depressive symptoms among nurses and the current status of experiences and support for secondary victims. Nursing managers need to reduce the risk of depression symptoms by multidimensional regulation of nurses' psychological emotions.