·To understand the current status of work stress, psychological resilience, perceived social support, and compassion fatigue among assisted reproduction department nurses in China, and explore their quantitative relationship model on this basis.

·Using a convenience sampling method, 511 assisted reproduction department nurses from 32 tertiary hospitals in 17 provinces and cities in the eastern, central and western economic regions of China were surveyed from September to December 2020 with using a general information questionnaire, the Nurses' Work Stressor Scale, the Mental Toughness Scale, the Appreciative Social Support Scale and the Compassion Fatigue Scale. Through basic statistics and structural equation modeling, we constructed a quantitative relationship model among work stress, psychological resilience, perceived social support, and compassion fatigue, and analyzed the relationships among these variables and their effects on compassion fatigue among assisted reproduction department nurses in China.

·The mean item scores of the dimensions of compassion fatigue among nurses in our assisted reproduction departments were compassion satisfaction (3.68±0.63), job burnout (2.39±0.52), and secondary traumatic stress (2.46±0.56), all of which were at moderate levels; there was a correlation between work stress, psychological resilience, perceived social support, and compassion fatigue among nurses in assisted reproduction departments (all P=0.000).The results of structural equation modeling showed that job stress had a direct negative effect on compassion satisfaction (β=-0.34, P=0.000), a direct positive effect on compassion fatigue symptoms (β=0.25, P=0.000); psychological resilience had a direct positive effect on compassion satisfaction (β=0.53, P=0.000), and a direct negative effect on compassion fatigue symptoms (β=-0.29, P=0.000); psychological resilience mediated the effect between job stress and compassion fatigue symptoms and between job stress and compassion satisfaction, and appreciating the role of social support in compassion fatigue symptoms and compassion satisfaction was not significant.

·Compassion fatigue of nurses in our assisted reproduction departments is affected by a variety of factors, among which the role of psychological resilience is significant in improving compassion satisfaction. It is recommended to start from enhancing the psychological resilience of nurses, take effective measures to improve the psychological resilience of nurses, reduce the incidence of compassion fatigue of nurses, and thus improve the quality of care.