Self-transcendence, caring and their associations with well-being

Aims To examine the relationship between nursing staffs' self-transcendence and well-being in long-term care facilities and to investigate the mediating role of caring behaviours in the aforementioned relationship. Background Factors associated with the well-being of healthcare providers influence the quality of care delivered. Although an increasing number of studies have shed light on the relationship between self-transcendence and subjective well-being, little is known of the mediating effect of caring behaviour in this relationship. Design The cross-sectional design applied in this study included a questionnaire survey of long-term care facilities. Methods Structural equation modelling with maximum likelihood estimation was used for empirical analysis of survey data obtained from 276 nurses and nurse-aids in 55 long-term care facilities. A bootstrapping method was used to analyse mediating effects. Results Tests of the measurement model and hypothesized model showed an adequate goodness of fit to the sample data. The results showed that nursing staffs' self-transcendence was related to their caring behaviours and well-being. Moreover, caring behaviours partially mediated the relationship between self-transcendence and well-being. Conclusion Our findings provide insight into the influence of self-transcendence and caring behaviours on the well-being of nursing staffs in long-term care settings. Further studies are needed to clarify the role of circumstances national wide.