Organizational Climate, Evidence-Based Nursing Competence, and Professional Identity Among Clinical Nurses: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study Using Mediation and Latent Profile Analyses.

PURPOSE: This study examined the associations among perceived organizational climate, evidence-based nursing competence, and professional identity among clinical nurses. It further examined the potential indirect association between organizational climate and professional identity through evidence-based nursing competence and identified latent professional identity profiles. METHODS: A multicenter cross-sectional survey was conducted among 723 clinical nurses from four tertiary hospitals in Guangdong Province, China. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Nurses' Professional Identity Scale, the Nursing Organizational Climate Scale, and the Evidence-Based Nursing Competence Scale. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, structural equation modeling, latent profile analysis, and multinomial logistic regression were performed. RESULTS: The mean scores for professional identity, organizational climate, and evidence-based nursing competence were 3.69 ± 0.62, 4.13 ± 0.61, and 2.52 ± 0.92, respectively. Organizational climate was positively correlated with professional identity and evidence-based nursing competence, and evidence-based nursing competence was positively correlated with professional identity. Structural equation modeling identified a statistically significant indirect association between organizational climate and professional identity through evidence-based nursing competence (standardized indirect effect = 0.062, 95% CI: 0.038-0.092), accounting for 9.5% of the total association. Latent profile analysis identified three professional identity profiles: low, moderate, and high professional identity. Multinomial logistic regression indicated that work role, organizational climate, and evidence-based nursing competence were significantly associated with profile membership. CONCLUSION: Organizational climate and evidence-based nursing competence were positively associated with professional identity among clinical nurses. A statistically significant indirect association between organizational climate and professional identity through evidence-based nursing competence was observed, and nurses showed heterogeneous professional identity profiles. These findings highlight organizational climate and evidence-based nursing competence as potentially relevant factors for nursing management and workforce development.