Abstract: Objective To explore the current status of occupational plateau,work-family conflict and depressive symptoms and their interrelationships among surgical nurses in tertiary general hospitals in Yancheng City,and to provide management ideas for alleviating depressive symptoms among surgical nurses. Methods From September to November 2023,a convenience sampling method was used to conduct an online questionnaire survey of 192 surgical nurses from Yancheng Third People's Hospital,Yancheng First People's Hospital,and Jianhu County People's Hospital,using general information survey,occupational plateau scale,work-family conflict scale,and patient health questionnaire depression scale,and the data were analyzed. Results The 192 surgical nurses had occupational plateau scores of （57.91±9.24）points,work-family conflict scores of （65.15±8.91）points,and depressive symptom scores of （7.27±2.67）points. There were statistically significant differences in occupational plateau scores of surgical nurses with different cultural levels,life economic pressure,labor relations,regular exercise and the average number of monthly night shifts arranged（all P<0.05）. There were statistically significant differences in work-family conflict scores among surgical nurses of different cultural levels,life economic pressure,labor relationship,regular exercise,and the average number of monthly night shifts arranged（all P<0.05）. There were statistically significant differences in depressive symptom scores among surgical nurses with different cultural levels,life economic pressure,regular exercise and the average number of monthly night shifts arranged（all P<0.05）. The occupational plateau of surgical nurses and its three sub dimensions,including plateau,centralized plateau and hierarchical plateau were positively correlated with depressive symptoms（r=0.573,0.514,0.489,0.551,all P<0.01）. Work-family conflict and its three sub dimensions of time,stress and behavior were positively correlated with depressive symptoms（r=0.702,0.578, 0.592,0.600,all P<0.01）. After controlling for the influence of general demographic variables on depressive symptoms,occupational plateau and work-family conflict independently explained 35.8% of the variation in depressive symptoms. Conclusion Occupational plateau and work-family conflict have a significant impact on depressive symptoms among 192 surgical nurses,and nursing managers can take multiple steps to actively explore ways to reduce the level of occupational plateau and work-family conflict as a way to reduce their depressive symptoms.

Key words: Surgical nurses, Occupational plateau, Work-family conflict, Depressive symptoms