The mediating role of academic resilience in the relationship between nurse faculty support and clinical adjustment in nursing students: a structural equation modeling analysis

The global shortage of nurses has intensified the need to effectively recruit and retain new graduates, placing a premium on the successful clinical training of nursing students. Nurse faculty members are pivotal in this process, yet the mechanisms through which their support translates into students’ clinical adjustment remain underexplored. This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of academic resilience in the relationship between nurse faculty support and clinical adjustment among nursing students. Following the STROBE checklist, we conducted an analytical cross-sectional study among 452 nursing students recruited from nursing faculties in Ardabil province, northwest Iran. Data were collected using three validated instruments: the Clinical Adjustment Scale–Student Nurse version (CAS-SN), the Nursing Faculty Support Scale (NFSS), and the Nursing Student Academic Resilience Inventory (NSARI). The data were analyzed using SPSS version 26 and AMOS version 24. A structural equation modeling (SEM) approach with bootstrapping was employed to test the hypothesized mediation model. Students reported high levels of nurse faculty support and moderate to high levels of Academic resilience, along with an overall positive clinical adjustment. Nurse faculty support demonstrated a direct and positive association with clinical adjustment (β = 0.622, p < 0.001). Academic resilience showed a significant mediating role (β = 0.368, p < 0.001), partially mediating the association between nurse faculty support and clinical adjustment. The findings confirm that academic resilience partially mediates the relationship between nurse faculty support and clinical adjustment. This suggests that improving faculty support alone is insufficient; rather, nursing educators should implement targeted strategies to simultaneously support faculty-student interactions and promote academic resilience. Such dual-focused interventions may facilitate a smoother transition into clinical practice and contribute to the development of competent, retained nursing professionals.