Abstract:
Objective This study aimed to investigate the current status and influencing factors of work engagement among operating room nurses and to examine the underlying mechanism by which career calling influences work engagement. The findings aimed to provide theoretical guidance for improving the quality of perioperative nursing services.
Methods A convenient sampling method was used to recruit 297 operating room nurses from three top tertiary hospitals in Shandong Province between January and March 2024. Data were collected via an online questionnaire, which included a general information survey, the Calling Scale, the Occupational Commitment Scale, the Work-related Flow Inventory (WOLF), and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-9 (UWES-9). Correlations among the scale scores were analyzed, and the mediating effects of occupational commitment and work-related flow on the relationship between career calling and work engagement were tested.
Results A total of 297 questionnaires were collected, with 277 valid responses, resulting in a valid response rate of 93.27%. For operating room nurses, the total score of career calling was (47.60 ± 8.80) points, occupational commitment was (88.54 ± 14.17) points, work-related flow was (49.65 ± 10.46) points, and work engagement was (37.61 ± 11.62) points, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis showed that work engagement was positively correlated with career calling, occupational commitment, and work-related flow (r = 0.826 to 0.872, P < 0.01). The level of career calling among operating room nurses positively predicted the work engagement (β = 1.091, P < 0.01). Further mediation analysis indicated that both occupational commitment and work-related flow partially mediated the relationship between career calling and work engagement, with occupational commitment accounting for 25.21% of the total effect and work-related flow accounting for 52.34%.
Conclusions The work engagement level of operating room nurses was directly influenced by their sense of career calling and indirectly through the psychological mechanisms of occupational commitment and work-related flow. Nursing administrators should prioritize cultivating nurses' sense of professional mission and intrinsic motivation and implement effective intervention strategies to enhance work engagement and ultimately improve the overall quality of operating room nursing care.