Abstract: Objective To explore the mediating effect of nurses' professional identity between nurses' emotional intelligence and occupational burnout,providing reference for nursing managers to develop scientific intervention measures. Methods Convenience sampling was used to select clinical nurses from a tertiary general hospital in Nanjing as the research subjects from June and July 2024. General information questionnaire,emotional intelligence scale,professional identity scale,and occupational burnout scale were used for investigation. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the mediating role of professional identity between emotional intelligence and burnout. Results A total of 510 nurses were surveyed. The scores for nurses' emotional intelligence,professional identity,and occupational burnout were (84.61±18.12),(109.52±22.94) and (66.90±23.16)points,respectively.The total score of emotional intelligence was negatively correlated with occupational burnout(r=-0.675,P<0.01),and positively correlated with professional identity(r=0.778,P<0.01). Professional identity was negatively correlated with occupational burnout(r=-0.700,P<0.01). Nurses' professional identity partially mediated the relationship between emotional intelligence and occupational burnout,with a mediation effect of -0.409,accounting for 57.61% of the total effect. Conclusion Nurses' emotional intelligence can not only directly affect occupational burnout,but also indirectly affect it through the mediating effect of professional identity. It's recommended that nursing managers pay more attention to the professional burnout of clinical nurses,develop effective support policies,and provide corresponding emotional support.

Key words: Nurse, Professional identity, Emotional intelligence, Occupational burnout