How Thriving at Work Alleviates Alarm Fatigue: The Mediating Effect of Problem-Solving Ability in Emergency Nurses.

INTRODUCTION: Alarm fatigue poses significant risks to emergency nurses and patient safety. Although thriving at work is recognized as a protective factor, its relationship with alarm fatigue remains underexplored, and the mediating role of problem-solving ability has not been examined. This study examines whether problem-solving ability mediates the relationship between thriving at work and alarm fatigue among emergency nurses. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. The study sample included 1086 nurses who had worked in the emergency department for at least 1 year and voluntarily participated in this study. Data were collected between January and June 2025 using the Thriving at Work Questionnaire, the Nurses' Alarm Fatigue Questionnaire, and the Social Problem-Solving Inventory. Descriptive statistics, correlation, and mediation analysis were used to analyze the data. This study is reported in accordance with the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines. RESULTS: Nurses' Problem-Solving ability score was 2.89 (SD 0.53), their Thriving at Work score was 3.69 (SD 1.21), and their alarm fatigue score was 3.22 (SD 0.84). Thriving at work and problem-solving ability were negatively correlated with alarm fatigue, whereas thriving at work and problem-solving ability were positively correlated. This study confirmed that problem-solving ability partially mediates the relationship between thriving at work and alarm fatigue. DISCUSSION: Emergency nurses' problem-solving ability partially mediates the relationship between thriving at work and alarm fatigue. Improving the level of thriving at work among emergency nurses helps to reduce their alarm fatigue.