How is work-family conflict linked to nurse-assessed patient safety among intensive care unit nurses? A serial multiple mediation analysis.

Aim: The aim of this study was to test whether rumination and negative affectivity mediate the relationship between work-family conflict and nurse-assessed patient safety among intensive care unit nurses.

Background: Most intensive care unit nurses experience work-family conflicts that jeopardise patient safety. Although prior studies have explored the effect of work-family conflict on patient safety, few have investigated whether work-family conflict is associated with patient safety through rumination and negative affectivity among intensive care unit nurses.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Methods: This study included 209 intensive care unit nurses from five general hospitals. The Work-Family Conflict Scale, the Ruminative Response Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-Negative Affectivity, and three items indicating nurses' perception of overall patient safety were used to gather data. Associations between work-family conflict, rumination, negative affectivity, and nurse-assessed patient safety were assessed using correlation and serial multiple mediation analysis.

Results: Work-family conflict, rumination, negative affectivity, and nurse-assessed patient safety were significantly correlated (p < 0.01). Work-family conflict can have not only a direct negative impact on the nurse-assessed patient safety (effect = -0.0234; standard error [SE] = 0.0116; 95% confidence interval [CI]: lower limit [LL] = -0.0464, upper limit [UL] = -0.0005) but also an indirect impact on nurse-assessed patient safety through three paths: the independent mediating role of rumination (effect = -0.0118; SE = 0.0063; 95% CI: LL = -0.0251, UL = -0.0006), the independent mediating role of negative affectivity (effect = -0.0055; SE = 0.0039; 95% CI: LL = -0.0153, UL = -0.0001), and the chain-mediating role of rumination and negative affectivity (effect = -0.0078; SE = 0.0031; 95% CI: LL = -0.0152, UL = -0.0027).

Conclusion: Our findings indicated that work-family conflict could influence nurse-assessed patient safety through increasing rumination and negative affectivity among intensive care unit nurses. Based on the results, interventions aimed at decreasing work-family conflict would be beneficial for intensive care unit nurses' emotional stability and patient safety.