Professional Quality of Life among Mental Health Nurses: The Role of Work Environment, Exposure to Violence, Mental Toughness, and Self-Compassion in a Cross-Sectional Survey

Purpose: This study examined the associations among work environment, exposure to violence, mental toughness, self-compassion, and self-coldness with professional quality of life (ProQOL) in mental health nurses, including indirect pathways. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 184 nurses in Korea. Participants completed validated measures assessing their work environment, exposure to violence, mental toughness, self-compassion (including both self-compassion and self-coldness components), and ProQOL (encompassing compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue). Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results: Both work environment and mental toughness were associated with higher compassion satisfaction and lower compassion fatigue. Mental toughness also accounted for significant indirect associations between work environment and both subcomponents of ProQOL. Self-compassion was linked to higher compassion satisfaction but not to compassion fatigue, while self-coldness showed a positive association with compassion fatigue and no significant association with compassion satisfaction. Although exposure to violence was not directly associated with ProQOL, it demonstrated an indirect association with compassion satisfaction through self-compassion. Conclusion: These findings underscore the pathways contributing to professional well-being and provide clinical implications along with recommendations for future research.