Cross-sectional Saudi hospital study links nurses’ resilience with happiness, but not life satisfaction

A descriptive correlational study of 238 nurses working in one tertiary hospital in Saudi Arabia found relatively high perceived resilience and moderate levels of happiness and life satisfaction. The study, summarized in the accepted manuscript of a research article in BMC Psychology, examined whether these three well-being measures were related and whether they varied by selected demographic and professional characteristics.

Data were collected using the BRS, OHQ-SF and SWLS. Because the outcome variables were not normally distributed, the researchers used Spearman’s rank-order correlation for associations and Mann–Whitney U, Kruskal–Wallis H and Dunn–Bonferroni post hoc tests for group comparisons. Resilience had a moderate positive correlation with happiness (rs = 0.463, p < .001). Happiness had a weak positive correlation with life satisfaction (rs = 0.145, p = 0.026), while the correlation between resilience and life satisfaction was not statistically significant (rs = 0.111, p = 0.088).

In exploratory, unadjusted analyses, resilience levels differed by gender, marital status, nationality, years of nursing experience and shift type. The abstract reports that marital status was associated with resilience at p = 0.044, but it does not provide the complete set of p-values for the other comparisons. Happiness differed by gender and years of nursing experience. Life satisfaction differed according to educational qualification and employment type.

The findings are limited to a cross-sectional, single-hospital sample and establish associations rather than causal relationships. The reported group analyses were exploratory and unadjusted, and the abstract does not describe adjustment for potential confounders. The authors also call for longitudinal, multicentre research to clarify the relationships among the measures and evaluate interventions. The study was published as an early-access, peer-reviewed accepted manuscript that remains subject to further edits, although the abstract states that it carries a permanent DOI.

Subject of Research: Associations among nurses’ resilience, happiness and life satisfaction in a Saudi tertiary hospital

Article Title: Beyond the shift: happiness, resilience, and life satisfaction among nurses in Saudi Arabia

Article References: Alotaibi, M., Alshowkan, A., & Kamel, N. (2026). Beyond the shift: happiness, resilience, and life satisfaction among nurses in Saudi Arabia. BMC Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05644-6

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DOI: 10.1186/s40359-026-05644-6

Keywords: nurses, Saudi Arabia, resilience, happiness, life satisfaction, cross-sectional study, tertiary hospital, well-being, BMC Psychology, Beyond, shift, life