The mediating effect of positive self-belief on the relationship between work stress and humanistic nursing competence among Chinese nurses: a cross-sectional study

Background Humanistic nursing competence constitutes not only the core competency of nurses but also their professional integrity and service ethos. This study aims to investigate the mediating role of positive self-belief in the relationship between nurses' work stress and humanistic nursing competence. Methods This cross-sectional study employed convenience sampling to recruit 542 clinical nurses from hospitals of varying tiers across 10 cities in Anhui Province. The research aimed to investigate the sources of participants' nursing work stress, positive self-belief, and humanistic nursing competencies. Following model construction, path analysis was conducted via AMOS 26.0 software. Results The results of the structural equation modelling analysis indicate that clinical nurses' work stress has a negative predictive effect on humanistic nursing competence (β = -0.426, P < 0.01), whereas positive self-belief has a positive predictive effect on humanistic nursing competence (β = 0.629, P < 0.01). Furthermore, work stress has a negative predictive effect on positive self-belief (β = -0.460, P < 0.01). The results of the mediation analysis revealed that the total effect of work stress on clinical nurses' humanistic nursing competency was − 0.155, with a direct effect of -0.041, accounting for 26.67% of the total effect. Positive self-belief partially mediated the relationship between clinical nurses' work stress and humanistic nursing competency, with a mediating effect of -0.113, representing 73.33% of the total effect. Conclusions The humanistic nursing ability of clinical nurses in Anhui Province is relatively low. By implementing interventions to alleviate work stress, clinical nurses can strengthen their positive self-beliefs, thereby effectively enhancing their humanistic nursing competencies. Specific strategies include rationally allocating human resources, optimizing performance evaluation systems, and regularly conducting training programs centered on positive psychology.