Resilience as an indirect pathway linking perceived skill development and institutional support with job satisfaction and burnout among nurses in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study

Burnout among nurses threatens healthcare quality and workforce sustainability. This study examined associations between perceived skill development, institutional support, resilience, job satisfaction, and burnout among nurses in Saudi Arabia, testing resilience as a mediator linking organizational resources to outcomes. In this cross-sectional study, 190 registered nurses from three hospitals in Riyadh completed validated instruments: Professional Development Scale in Nursing, Survey of Perceived Organizational Support, Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale-25, Index of Work Satisfaction, and Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. Hierarchical regression and regression-based mediation (PROCESS Model 4; 5,000 bootstrap samples) were conducted, controlling for age, gender, experience, hospital type, and nationality. Reporting follows STROBE guidelines. Skill development (β = 0.38, p < 0.001) and institutional support (β = 0.34, p < 0.001) were independently associated with resilience (R 2 = 0.412). Resilience was positively associated with job satisfaction (r = 0.48) and negatively with burnout (r = −0.54). Indirect effects via resilience were statistically significant for the paths from skill development to job satisfaction (0.15,95% CI [0.09,0.22]), skill development to burnout (−0.23,95% CI [−0.32, −0.15]), institutional support to job satisfaction (0.14,95% CI [0.09,0.21]), and institutional support to burnout (−0.19,95% CI [−0.28, −0.12]). Nationality was not significantly associated with resilience (β = 0.03, p = 0.660). Higher perceived skill development and institutional support were associated with higher resilience, which in turn correlated with improved job satisfaction and reduced burnout. These findings suggest that strengthening organizational resources is associated with higher nurse resilience and, in turn, with more favorable job satisfaction and burnout profiles; given the cross-sectional design, causal or directional claims cannot be made.