Association Between Calling and Work Engagement, and the Mediating Role of Psychological Capital and Organizational Commitment: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Purpose This research aims to investigate the relationship between calling and work engagement, as well as the mediating roles of psychological capital and organizational commitment. The findings have implications for designing intervention programs to enhance work engagement among clinical nurses. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted following the STROBE guidelines between November 2021 to December 2021. The study involved registered clinical nurses working at a tertiary hospital in Guangdong province, China. They were required to report their levels of calling, psychological capital, organizational commitment, and work engagement. The relationship between calling and work engagement was examined using correlation analysis, while the mediating effect of psychological capital and organizational commitment was assessed through structural equation modeling. Results A total of 630 nurses were involved in the study. The majority of participants were aged between 31–40 years (39.9%), male (95.7%), and had over 15 years of work experience (32.3%). Most participants held a professional title of Primary or below (61.7%). The model demonstrated good fit indices. The results indicate that calling significantly influences work engagement (β = 0.550, p < .001). Specifically, calling directly influences work engagement (β = 0.264, p < .001), and also has an indirect effect through organizational commitment(β = 0.165, p < .001) and psychological capital (β = 0.121, p < .001). All indirect and direct effects of the variables were statistically significant. Conclusion In China, nurses' work engagement is impacted by calling, psychological capital, and organizational commitment either directly or indirectly. It is recommended that nurse managers establish realistic and achievable goals to foster employees' passion for their work. Implementing appropriate interventions to enhance nurses' calling can help increase work engagement levels.