Self-Efficacy Mediates the Relationship Between Organisational Support and Health Education Competency: A Cross-Sectional Study Among 9182 Nurses

Aim: This study aimed to explore the association of organisational support with health education competency and to examine the mediating role of self-efficacy among Chinese nurses. Design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: The cross-sectional survey method was used in this study. Using a convenience sampling approach, 9182 nurses were recruited from 54 tertiary hospitals, 56 secondary hospitals, and 23 first-level hospitals in Anhui province, China, in 2023. The study used the Social-demographic Questionnaire, the Self-efficacy scale, the Organisational Support Perception Scale and the Health Education Competency Self-evaluation Scale for Nursing Staff to collect the data. Independent samples t-tests and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to assess the differences in health education competency. A Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between the variables. The structural equation model (SEM) was employed, and the mediating effect between variables was assessed using the Bootstrap method. Results: Health education competency was significantly positively correlated with self-efficacy and organisational support (p < 0.001). Self-efficacy was significantly positively correlated with organisational support (p < 0.001). Organisational support has a direct positive predictive effect on health education competency. Self-efficacy is a mediating variable of organisational support and health education competency. The mediating effect is 0.336, accounting for 51.45% of the total effect. Conclusions: The level of nurses' health education ability in China is medium and still needs to be improved. Self-efficacy can play a part of the mediating role between organisational support and health education competency. The intervention measures to improve health education competency should be focused on nurses' organisational support improvement.