Person-centered exploration of emotional labor patterns, predictors, and their association with mental health in obstetrical nurses: a multicenter cross-sectional study

Background Obstetrical nurses encounter a multitude of challenging circumstances, emotional labor is an indispensable component of nursing practice and impact on mental well-being significantly. This study aimed to identify different profiles of emotional labor for obstetrical nurses and explore their association with mental health. Methods A cross-sectional survey design using convenience sampling involved 1,480 obstetrics nurses from 32 hospitals in Jiangsu, China. The emotional labor was evaluated using the Emotional Labor Scale for Nurses, while mental health status was measured with the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale. The study employed latent profile analysis to categorize obstetrical nurses into homogeneous profiles based on patterns of emotional labor, partial least squares regression(PLSR) analyses characterized the profiles in terms of sociodemographic and work-related variables, and a general linear regression model was employed to examine the relationship between mental health across different profiles. Results Among the 1,480 obstetrical nurses examined, three distinct profiles were identified: “low emotional labor profile” (n = 112, 7.57%), “moderate emotional labor profile”(n = 908, 61.35%), and “high emotional labor profile”(n = 460, 31.08%). By PLSR, there were three potential factors in which VIP values were greater than 1, namely the number of children, work experience, and interpersonal relationships at work. And the emotional labor profile demonstrated a negative association with stress, anxiety, and depression. Conclusion This study employs a person-centered approach to examine the emotional labor of obstetrical nurses, identifying predictors of profile membership and their relationship with mental health. These findings can inform the development of targeted interventions designed to alleviate stress and enhance the mental health of obstetrical nurses.