The chain-mediating effects of career adaptability and self-care on the relationship between nursing work environment and work engagement in oncology nurses: A multicenter cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: The nursing work environment (NWE) is positively associated with work engagement; however, the precise mechanism underlying this relationship in oncology nurses remains unclear. PURPOSE: This study aims to investigate the relationship between the NWE and work engagement among oncology nurses, with particular attention to the mediating roles of career adaptability and self-care by developing a structural equation modeling. METHODS: A confirmatory cross-sectional survey was conducted at three hospitals in China. DISCUSSION: Structural equation modeling showed that work engagement was most strongly associated with self-care (β = 0.595), followed by career adaptability (β = 0.527) and NWE (β = 0.497). The mediation analysis indicated that 52.2% of the variance in work engagement was accounted for by the combined effects of NWE, career adaptability, and self-care. These findings suggest that career adaptability and self-care play important mediating roles in the relationship between NWE and work engagement among oncology nurses. CONCLUSION: Career adaptability and self-care mediated the relationship between NWE and work engagement. Future research should emphasize improving the NWE, career adaptability, self-care, and work engagement among oncology nurses to inform the development of effective intervention strategies.