Evaluation of psychometric properties of professional quality of life scale among nurses in Singapore

Background and Purpose: Nurses experience compassion fatigue (CF), depression, burnout (BO), and even signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) among nurses in the Southeast Asia context. Methods: Psychometric testing of interitem correlations and reliability, and both convergent and discriminant validity, as well as construct validity analyses was conducted among 1,338 nurses from two academic centers in Singapore. Results: Findings demonstrated significant interconstruct correlations among the three subscales of ProQOL, namely compassion satisfaction (CS), BO, and secondary traumatic stress (STS). ProQOL displayed satisfactory internal consistency and discriminant validity. Conclusions: Psychometric properties of the CS component were found to be satisfactory. ProQOL may be integrated into strategies in supporting and improving nurses' QoL which could focus to lessen BO and CF at work, as well as improving individual satisfaction in the care of patients.