Can resilience promote calling among Chinese nurses in intensive care units during the COVID-19 pandemic? The mediating role of thriving at work and moderating role of ethical leadership

Abstract

BackgroundNurses working in the intensive care unit (ICU) clung tenaciously to their job during the COVID-19 pandemic in spite of enduring stressed psychological and physical effects as a result of providing nursing care for the infected patients, which indicates that they possessed a high degree of professionalism and career calling. The aim of this study was to explain the associations between resilience, thriving at work, and ethical leadership influencing the calling of ICU nurses.MethodsFrom December 2020 to January 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, a cross-sectional survey of 15 provinces in China was conducted using an online questionnaire. A total of 340 ICU nurses (effective response rate: 64.89%) completed sufficient responses to be used in the study. Sociodemographic factors, job demographic factors, resilience, calling, thriving at work, and ethical leadership were assessed using the questionnaire. General linear modeling (GLM), hierarchical linear regression (HLR) analysis, and generalized additive model (GAM) were performed to examine all the considered research hypotheses.ResultsResilience was positively and significantly associated with calling. Moreover, thriving at work partially mediated the relationship between resilience and calling. The indirect effect of resilience on calling was 0.204 (p < 0.0001), and the direct effect of resilience on calling through thriving at work was 0.215 (p < 0.0001). The total effect of resilience on calling was 0.419 (p < 0.0001). In addition, ethical leadership played a moderating role in the relationship between resilience and calling (β = 0.16, p < 0.05).ConclusionGreater resilience can positively predict increased calling among Chinese ICU nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, thriving at work is a mechanism that partly transmits the positive effects of resilience on calling. Overall, nurses possessing greater resilience tend to maintain thriving at work in the face of such adversity, further resulting in subsequently increased calling. Besides, findings suggest that there is stronger influence of resilience on calling among nurses working in an organization managed by an ethical leader. The current findings may offer two insights for nursing practitioners and policymakers in the postpandemic world. First, resilience training and intervention are necessary to foster nurses' sense of thriving at work in the nursing industry, further promoting career calling. Second, better training and effort on the development of ethical leadership for leaders in nursing practice are essential to encourage followers to engage in social learning of ethical behaviors and abiding by normatively appropriate conduct, further enacting prosocial values and expressing moral emotions.

The mediating role of thriving at work between organizational inducements and work outcomes

“…Bartram et al.’s (2023) study established the mediating role of thriving between well‐being‐oriented HRM and employee performance in the Chinese banking sector. TW acted as an underlying mechanism between nurses’ resilience on calling too during the COVID‐19 pandemic in China (Sun et al., 2022). The mediating role of TW between emotional intelligence and safety performance was also supported by Wang et al.’s (2023) study for full‐time Chinese commercial pilots.…”

The relationship between role ambiguity, emotional exhaustion and work alienation among chinese nurses two years after COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study

“…They are very careful in their work to prevent themselves from becoming infected and in turn infecting their family and friends [ 7 ]. In addition, they suffer discrimination and prejudice from the public because of their close contact with infected patients, but their sense of mission and responsibility as health care professionals makes them conflicted and tormented inside [ 8 ]. The imbalance between what they give and what they get in return, the difficulty in obtaining satisfaction from their work and the sense of disparity in expectations, reinforce the desire to leave the nursing profession and a sense of work alienation emerges [ 9 ].…”

Moderating Role of Peer Pressure and Positive Learning Environment Between Career Calling and Academic Procrastination in Chinese Medical Students During Controlled COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

“… 20 The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the medical profession, and medical workers had to cope with increased pressure and workload. 21 Career calling has been identified as a resilient personal resource with the potential to help medical staff cope with the stress of the pandemic. In some surveys, medical workers indicated a career calling to fight the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…In some surveys, medical workers indicated a career calling to fight the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 21 , 22 In other words, career calling is important for all medical practitioners in highly challenging situations.…”