The association between school educational atmosphere, learning engagement, and professional commitment of nursing students, and learning engagement as the mediator

Xi Zhang; Ye Chen; Bingbing Li; Lingjun Jiang; Xi Lang; Tieying Zeng

doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2024.106223

The association between school educational atmosphere, learning engagement, and professional commitment of nursing students, and learning engagement as the mediator

Nurse Educ Today. 2024 Apr 21:139:106223. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2024.106223. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Xi Zhang¹, Ye Chen², Bingbing Li¹, Lingjun Jiang¹, Xi Lang¹, Tieying Zeng³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nursing, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, China; School of Nursing, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan, China.
² Department of Nursing, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, China.
³ Department of Nursing, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: 984451641@qq.com.

PMID: 38657481
DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2024.106223

Abstract

Background: The current shortage and loss of nurses has become a significant problem in healthcare systems around the world. Professional commitment is essential to prevent the loss of nursing staff and stabilize the nursing workforce.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the unique relationship between school educational atmosphere, learning engagement, and professional commitment, and whether learning engagement would mediate the relationship between educational atmosphere and professional commitment.

Design: A cross-sectional study design was used.

Settings: The participants came from six schools in four cities in Hubei Province, China.

Participants: A total of 1009 nursing students above the first year of undergraduate studies were included by convenient sampling method.

Methods: Data were collected using the Educational Climate Inventory, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-student, and the Professional Commitment Scale. Pearson correlation was used to examine the relationship between educational atmosphere, learning engagement, and professional commitment. Mediation analysis was used to test whether learning engagement mediated the relationship between educational atmosphere and professional commitment.

Results: A positive educational atmosphere was associated with a high level of learning engagement, which was associated with a higher level of professional commitment. Learning engagement mediated the relationship between educational atmosphere and professional commitment.

Conclusions: The findings provide empirical evidence for promoting professional commitment in nursing students. Learning engagement is an important mediating variable connecting educational atmosphere and professional commitment. In order to stabilize the career choices of nursing students, it is necessary to take measures to improve their learning engagement during school.

Keywords: Educational atmosphere; Learning engagement; Nurse education; Nursing students; Professional commitment.