Relationship Between Proactive Personality and Job Performance of Chinese Nurses: The Mediating Role of Competency and Work Engagement

Abstract

Background: As one of the main participants in health care, nurses are esteemed an important driving force for the vigorous health care development. Studies report that nurses’ proactive personality has positive effects on their job performance; however, this relationship acquires further understanding.Objective: A cross-sectional study was performed to explore the relationship between nurses’ proactive personality and job performance; the mediating role of nurses’ competency and work engagement in this relationship was also evaluated.Methods: The study was performed in a large third-degree general hospital in October 2019, Xi’an, PR, China. A sample of 246 nurses participated in this cross-sectional study. Proactive personality was assessed with the Proactive Personality Questionnaire (PPS), job performance was assessed by Heilman three-item measurements, nurse competence was estimated with Nurse Competency Scale (NCS), and work engagement was assessed with the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). The structural equation model was used to test the main hypotheses.Results: Structural equation model analysis revealed that work engagement partially mediated the association between proactive personality and job performance. The serial two-mediator model which was used to explore the association between proactive personality and job performance through competency and work engagement, in sequence, was demonstrated.Conclusion: This study demonstrates that work engagement partially mediated the association between nurses’ proactive personality and their job performance. The serial two-mediator model demonstrated that proactive personality was associated with job performance via competency and work engagement. This study also revealed the critical role of nursing managers in understanding the nurses’ proactive personality, which would facilitate them to enhance the latter’s competency and promote their work engagement. All these will in turn constantly improve the overall quality of nursing and advance professional development of nursing and benefits for patients.

The Impact of Authentic Leadership on Innovative Work Behavior: Mediating Roles of Proactive Personality and Employee Engagement

“…Furthermore, this study found that work engagement positively mediates the relationship between proactive personality and innovative work behavior. This result of this relationship is similar to a prior study (Hu et al, 2021), which suggests that engaged employees offer better results and an effect on the performance of the organization as well as innovative work behavior. Employees holding well-built personal resources as proactive personalities might be notably engaged in their job.…”

“…To positively affect a subordinate's emotion and psychological ability is the illustration of authentic leadership (Alessa et al, 2021). Authentic leadership and proactive personality are positively associated with each other because authentic leaders are apt to transform and proactive personality is a trait that belongs to change the environment through leadership styles that may encourage leader's follower's relation (Hu et al, 2021).…”

Professional identity and emotional labour affect the relationship between perceived organisational justice and job performance among Chinese hospital nurses

“…Nurse job performance refers to the achievements and contributions made by nurses in nursing work with individual professional ability (Levy & Williams, 2004); it is not only the embodiment of nurses' practical application of their theoretical knowledge and operational skills but also the degree and effect of working ability and attitude in the working environment (Kong et al, 2014). Nurse performance level was closely related to their nursing quality and patient health outcomes (Hu et al, 2021; Lee & Ko, 2010). However, the shortage of nurses has become an ongoing and pressing problem globally.…”

“…The relationship between job performance and personal characteristics of nurses such as competence, gender, marital status, education level and years of experience were investigated by some researchers (Al‐Ahmadi, 2009; Tong, 2018). Studies have found that organisational commitment (Al‐Ahmadi, 2009), work stress (Li et al, 2017), job burnout (Dyrbye et al, 2019), structural empowerment (Al‐Hammouri et al, 2021), job satisfaction (Abdullah et al, 2021) and personality traits (Hu et al, 2021) were important predictors of job performance. These published literatures have guiding significance for further research on the influencing factors of nurses' job performance.…”

Mindfulness Practice and Job Performance in Social Workers: Mediation Effect of Work Engagement

“…There is evidence proving that work engagement leads to high job performance, including both task and contextual performances [ 23 , 24 , 25 ]. For example, Meyers et al [ 21 ] used 753 Dutch employees and showed that work engagement was positively related to contextual performance.…”