Work flow is critical for nurses due to the demanding nature of their profession, as it enhances stress resilience, engagement, and quality of care.
This study sought to examine the relationship between perceived organizational support for strengths use and work-related flow among nurses, and to explore the mediating roles of psychological capital components: self-efficacy, resilience, hope, and optimism.
This cross-sectional study, involving 607 nurses, was conducted in March 2024. Validated scales were employed to measure perceived organizational support for strengths use, psychological capital, and work-related flow. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 25.0, along with the PROCESS macro for mediation analysis.
The study revealed a significant positive relationship between perceived organizational support for strengths use, psychological capital, and work-related flow. Among the four psychological capital dimensions, only self-efficacy and optimism significantly mediated the relationship between perceived organizational support for strengths use and work-related flow.
These findings underscore the importance of fostering a strengths-based organizational climate and enhancing key psychological resources—particularly self-efficacy and optimism—to improve nurses' flow experiences at work.
Enhancing perceived organizational support for strengths use can foster self-efficacy and optimism among nurses, thereby promoting work-related flow. By cultivating a strengths-based work environment and reinforcing key psychological resources, healthcare institutions can improve nurses' well-being, engagement, and ultimately the quality of patient care.
Nurse job satisfaction is a critical area of study with far-reaching implications for healthcare organizations, patient care, and the retention of nursing staff.
This study aimed to investigate the association of gratitude with job satisfaction among Chinese nurses and examine the potential mediating roles of resilience and stress in this relationship.
Two separate studies were conducted to examine our research hypotheses. In Study 1, a total of 460 nurses completed the questionnaire related to gratitude, resilience, stress, and job satisfaction. A validation study was conducted in Study 2, which consisted of 709 nurses who also completed the same measures of gratitude, resilience, and stress to ensure the repeatability of the Study 1 results. Furthermore, a different scale was used to measure nurses' job satisfaction.
The two studies consistently found that both resilience and stress mediated gratitude–job satisfaction independently among Chinese nurses. Furthermore, resilience was found to be a significantly stronger mediator than stress in the association of gratitude with job satisfaction. Finally, we found that gratitude predicted nurses' job satisfaction via the serial mediating effects of resilience and stress.
These findings highlight the complex interplay between gratitude, resilience, stress, and job satisfaction by demonstrating that resilience and stress act as parallel and sequential mediators between nurses' gratitude and job satisfaction. The healthcare sector can improve nurses' job satisfaction by increasing gratitude, building resilience, and reducing feelings of stress.
Nurse managers have the potential to enhance job satisfaction among nurses by implementing measures that increase gratitude, build resilience, and reduce stress levels.