Objective To investigate compassion fatigue of midwives in different levels of hospitals in eastern,central and western regions of China,and to analyze influencing factors of compassion fatigue. Methods The cross-sectional survey was conducted,and a total of 12 provinces were selected in 3 economic regions of China by random sampling method. 52 hospitals of different levels were conveniently selected,and the midwives who met the inclusion criteria were recruited by the purpose sampling method. A self-developed questionnaire,the compassion fatigue scale and the social support rating scale were adopted to collect data. The influencing factors were analyzed by a multi-level statistical model. Results A total of 489 questionnaires were collected,477 of which were valid with the effective return rate of 97.8%. The scores of conscientious satisfaction,occupational burnout,secondary traumatic stress,and social support were（31.64±6.47）,（27.87±5.01）,（26.21±5.70）,and（37.93±6.44）,while 82.6% of participants reported as moderate or above level of compassion fatigue. The results of multi-level logistic model analysis showed that hospital level,child situation,region,working atmosphere,number of labortrauma events,quality of sleep,and social support were related to the degree of compassion fatigue for midwives（P<0.05）. Conclusion The compassion fatigue of midwives was relatively serious,and midwives with low level of social support,poor sleep quality,disharmonious working atmosphere,divorce or young children are more likely to experience compassion fatigue. The degree of compassion fatigue of midwives from the secondary and tertiary hospitals in the western region was relatively high. Nursing managers should take effective measures to reduce the compassion fatigue among midwives based on influencing factors.
