Frequent healthcare reforms have led to change fatigue among nurses; however, the heterogeneous characterization of change fatigue has not been adequately studied, and there is limited research evidence on how different change fatigue characteristics interact with perceived support and self-efficacy. This study aimed to determine the potential heterogeneity of clinical nurse change fatigue and the factors influencing different potential profiles. This cross-sectional study was conducted with among clinical nurses using convenient sampling, from December 2024 to January 2025. A total of 515 clinical nurses from 10 hospitals in Sichuan Province participated in an online questionnaire. By using the General Demographic Questionnaire, the Change Fatigue Scale, the Perceived Organizational Support-Simplified Version Scale, and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. Data were analyzed using latent profile analysis, chi-square, one-way ANOVA and multinomial logistic regression analysis. We followed STROBE guidelines in this research. Four latent profiles were identified and labeled as follows: “low fatigue-stable group”, “moderate fatigue-fluctuating group”, “moderate fatigue-low burnout/high craving group”, and “high fatigue-low burnout/high craving group”. Nurses without administrative positions (p = 0.047), those experiencing fewer organizational changes (p < 0.001), those with perceived higher organizational support (p < 0.001), and those demonstrating greater self-efficacy (p = 0.010) were more likely to be classified in the “low fatigue-stable group”. This study revealed that change fatigue among clinical nurses could be categorized into four subtypes. Position, the frequency of organizational changes, perceived organizational support, and self-efficacy were factors associated with nurses’ membership in different change fatigue subgroups. Nursing administrators must develop policies to alleviate nurses’ change fatigue. These policies may include evaluating nurses’ positions, carefully considering the frequency of organizational change implementation, providing adequate organizational support, and enhancing nurses’ self-efficacy. Not applicable.
Peng et al. (Tue,) studied this question.