The impact of supervisor developmental feedback on clinical nurse specialist' meaningful work based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model: a parallel mediation model of work engagement and stress adaptation

Purpose Recent studies have shown that supervisor developmental feedback positively influences employees' sense of workplace meaningfulness, the underlying mechanisms driving this relationship insufficiently understood. Based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, our study aims to explore the relationship among supervisor developmental feedback, work engagement, stress adaptation, and meaningful work. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 236 clinical nurse specialists from seven specialized departments in the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine. Pearson’s correlation analysis was employed to examine the relationships among supervisor developmental feedback, work engagement, stress adaptation, and meaningful work. The parallel mediating effects of work engagement and stress adaptation on the relationship between supervisor developmental feedback and meaningful work was analyzed using the Process 4.0 plugin for SPSS version 26.0. Results Supervisor developmental feedback was positively correlated with meaningful work. Additionally, work engagement and stress adaptation partially mediated the relationship between supervisor developmental feedback and meaningful work. Conclusions Nursing managers should enhance supervisor developmental feedback provided to clinical nurse specialists and focus on fostering their work engagement and stress adaptation to improve the sense of meaningful work among clinical nurse specialists.