Trait positive empathy and professional identity among nursing undergraduates: the mediating role of career resilience.

BACKGROUND: Professional identity is an important indicator of career development and workforce stability among nursing undergraduates. However, the pathways through which positive psychological resources are associated with professional identity remain unclear. This study aimed to examine the mediating role of career resilience in the relationship between trait positive empathy and professional identity among nursing undergraduates. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 617 nursing undergraduates from a university in Henan Province, China. Participants completed the Trait Positive Empathy Scale (TPES), Career Resilience Scale (CRS), and Professional Identity Questionnaire for Nursing Students (PIQN). Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the relationships among the variables. The mediating role of career resilience was tested using PROCESS Model 4 with 5,000 bootstrap resamples. RESULTS: The total scores of trait positive empathy, career resilience, and professional identity were 28.07 ± 4.59, 19.86 ± 3.30, and 60.72 ± 10.44, respectively. Trait positive empathy was positively correlated with career resilience (r = 0.654, p < 0.001) and professional identity (r = 0.486, p < 0.001). Career resilience was positively correlated with professional identity (r = 0.557, p < 0.001). Mediation analysis indicated that career resilience partially explained the relationship between trait positive empathy and professional identity. More than half of this association was explained through career resilience, with the indirect association accounting for 56.23% of the total association. CONCLUSION: Trait positive empathy was directly associated with professional identity and indirectly associated with professional identity through career resilience among nursing undergraduates. These findings highlight the importance of cultivating positive psychological resources and career resilience to support professional identity development in nursing education.