Enhancing Occupational Well-Being Among Chinese Nurses: Exploring the Mediation of Job Stress in the Relationship Between Social Support and Occupational Well-Being

Background: The occupational well-being of nurses is important for nurses’ human resource management and the sustainable development of hospitals. Several studies have demonstrated a positive association between social support and occupational well-being. However, the underlying mechanism behind this mechanism remains unclear. This study explored how social support influenced occupational well-being through the mediating roles of job stress.

Methods: This study utilized the stratified random sampling method and conducted a questionnaire survey among 450 nurses from a tertiary general hospital from July 2022 to September 2022. The surveys included the Social Support Rating Scale, Job Stress Scale, and Occupational Well-Being Scale. We also collected data on participants’ sociodemographic characteristics and job-related factors. Structural equation modeling was applied to examine the associations between variables.

Results: The results revealed that the nurses had a moderate level of occupational well-being. Social support is positively associated with occupational well-being (γ = 0.600, p < 0.001), while job stress is negatively associated with occupational well-being (γ = −0.300, p < 0.001). Social support had a significant negative association with job stress (γ = −0.318, p < 0.001). The mediation effect shows that job stress mediated the association between social support and occupational well-being (indirect effect = 0.096, 95%CI: 0.061∼0.142), and the mediating effect of job stress can explain the 16% of the total effect of social support on occupational well-being.

Conclusion: This study provides evidence that the effect of social support on occupational well-being is partially mediated by job stress among nurses in China. Social support can improve nurses’ occupational well-being by relieving job stress. Medical administration departments and hospital administrators should give nurses more support in their work and take targeted interventions to enhance the occupational well-being of nurses.