Abstract: Objective To explore the mediating role of ego depletion in the relationship between negative gossip in the workplace and job burnout among respiratory nurses. Methods The random number table method was used to randomly select 185 nurses from the respiratory departments of 6 tertiary general hospitals in Wuhan from January to March 2024 as the survey subjects. The general situation scale,negative gossip scale,ego depletion scale,and job burnout scale were used for the survey. Univariate analysis was used to compare the differences in negative gossip,ego depletion,and job burnout among different demographic characteristics,spearman rank correlation was used to analyze the correlation between negative gossip,ego depletion,and job burnout. Results The scores of negative gossip in the workplace,ego depletion and job burnout of respiratory nurses were （9.14±2.46）,（12.46±2.75） and （61.52±12.42）points,respectively. The negative gossip score of respiratory nurses in the workplace was positively correlated with the job burnout score（r=0.615,P<0.01）,the ego depletion score was positively correlated with the job burnout score（r=0.559,P<0.01）,and the negative gossip score in the workplace was positively correlated with the ego depletion score（r=0.582,P<0.01）. Ego depletion played a positive mediating effect between negative gossip and job burnout of respiratory nurses,with an effect value of 0.321,accounting for 39.48% of the total effect. Conclusion Negative gossip in the workplace is positively correlated with job burnout among respiratory nurses. Ego depletion plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between negative gossip in the workplace and job burnout. Reducing the spread of negative gossip in the workplace and reducing ego depletion of psychological resources are conducive to reducing the level of job burnout.

Key words: Respiratory nurses, Negative gossip in the workplace, Ego depletion, Job burnout, Mediating effect