Dispositional mindfulness and fatigue in Chinese nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: a possible mediating role of sleep quality

Purpose: During the COVID-19 epidemicin China, clinical nurses are at an elevated risk of suffering fatigue. This research sought to investigate the correlation between dispositional mindfulness and fatigue among nurses, as well as the potential mediation role of sleep quality in this relationship. Methods: This online cross-sectional survey of nurses was performed from August to September 2022 after the re-emergence of COVID-19 in China. The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), 14-item Fatigue Scale (FS-14), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were employed to assess the levels of dispositional mindfulness, fatigue, and sleep quality, respectively. The significance of the mediation effect was determined through a bootstrap approach with SPSS PROCESS macro. Results: A total of 2143 nurses completed the survey. Higher levels of dispositional mindfulness were significantly negatively related to fatigue (r = -0.518, P < 0.001) and sleep disturbance (r = -0.344, P < 0.001). Besides, there was a positive relationship between insufficient sleep and fatigue (r = 0.547, P < 0.001). Analyses of mediation revealed that sleep quality partly mediated the correlation between dispositional mindfulness and fatigue (β= -0.551, 95% Confidence Interval = [-0.630, -0.474]). Conclusions: Chinese nurses' dispositional awareness was related to the reduction of fatigue during the COVID-19 pandemic, and this relationship indirectly operates through sleep quality. Intervention strategies and measures should be adapted to improve dispositional mindfulness and sleep quality to reduce fatigue in nurses during the pandemic.