Abstract: Objective To explore the relationship between perceived organizational support,compassion fatigue and caring behavior among outpatient nurses,and to analyze the mediating effect of compassion fatigue on perceived organizational support and caring behavior in nurses. Methods Convenience sampling was used to select 425 outpatient nurses from 7 grade-A tertiary hospitals in Xi'an as the research subjects. General information questionnaire,caring behavior scale,perceived organizational support scale,and compassion fatigue brief scale were used for investigation,and the data were analyzed. Results The total scores of caring behavior,perceived organizational support and compassion fatigue[M（P₂₅,P₇₅）] of outpatient nurses were 119.00（107.00,136.00）,46.00（40.00,52.00） and 43.00（24.00,51.00）points. Outpatient nurses' compassion fatigue was negatively correlated with caring behavior and perceived organizational support（r_s=-0.650,-0.540,both P<0.01）,while perceived organizational support was positively correlated with caring behavior（r_s=0.468,P<0.01）.The mediating effect of compassion fatigue on nurses' perceived organizational support and caring behavior was 0.244,accounting for 65.42% of the total effect. Conclusion The levels of caring behavior,perceived organizational support and compassion fatigue of outpatient nurses need to be improved. Nursing managers should pay attention to the influence of perceived organizational support and compassion fatigue on the caring behavior of outpatient nurses,and provide adequate organizational support resources to alleviate the compassion fatigue of nurses,reduce the loss of psychological resources,and promote the better implementation of caring behavior by outpatient nurses.

Key words: Outpatient nurses, Caring behavior, Perceived organizational support, Compassion fatigue, Mediating effect