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Disentangling Organizational Support Construct: The Role of Different Sources
of Perceived Support to Registered Nurses’ Work Engagement and Professional
Identity

1
M. Liu and H. Deng 2

2
1 General surgery department, West China Hospital, China, and Pancreatitis center, West China
Hospital, China

Background: Work engagement is a key variable to achieve positive outcomes for organizations and
individuals. Existing theories explore work engagement mainly from perceived organizational support.
However, the different sources (from organization, supervisor, coworker) of perceived support
contributing to registered nurses’ work engagement and professional identity remain unclear.

Objective: To investigate the differential role of organizational support, supervisor support, and
coworker support perceived by registered nurses in work engagement and professional identity.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey study was implemented. Using convenience sampling, 373
registered nurse from public hospital were invited to participate in this study. A recruitment message
Oral Presentation Abstracts
was sent to nurses in 11 cities across Sichuan Province of China to maximize the representativeness of
research data. The data were collected online through the Questionnaire Star platform from April to
July, 2023. Structural equation modelling approach was utilized to analyze the relationships among
work engagement, professional identity and the different sources of perceived support.

Results: The majority of registered nurses were female (90.1%) with an average age of 29.9 years old
and 8.04 years of nursing experience. Results suggested that perceived supervisor support (ß=0.14)
and perceived coworker support (ß=0.31) directly affected work engagement. Both perceived
organizational support (ß=0.59) and perceived coworker support (ß=0.14) had indirect effects on
work engagement through professional identity. The perceived supervisor support (ß=0.88) directly
affected perceived organizational support. The four variables explained a total of 55.5% of variance in
work engagement.

Conclusion: In management practice, the different sources of perceived support should be
considered by nursing department to develop a supportive work environment. Nursing department
is responsible for promoting supportive relationships among nurses, by actively leading to develop
closer peer bonds and then trigger changes in attitude and behavior towards organization.
Supervisors can provide nurses with supportive behaviors (such as appropriate rewards, positive
feedback, clinical coaching) to improve nurses’ well-being and effectiveness.

Keywords: work engagement, perceived organizational support, perceived supervisor support,
perceived coworker support, professional identity

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Correspondence: Min Liu, General Surgery Department, West China Hospital, China
E-mail: minliuhx@163.com

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