Proactive personality and career adaptability as predictors of clinical practice behavior among Chinese practical nursing students: the mediating role of career adaptability.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to examine the relationships among proactive personality, career adaptability, and clinical practice behavior among practical nursing students. METHODS: A descriptive-correlational, cross-sectional design was employed with 394 practical nursing students. Data were collected using the Proactive Personality Scale, the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale-China Form, and the Clinical Evaluation Tool. Pearson correlation, hierarchical regression, and bootstrapping mediation analysis were conducted. RESULTS: Proactive personality (M = 5.26, SD = 0.819), career adaptability (M = 3.74, SD = 0.535), and clinical practice behavior (M = 3.97, SD = 0.576) were all at moderately high levels. Significant positive correlations were found among all three variables. Career adaptability significantly mediated the association between proactive personality and clinical practice behavior, with an indirect effect of 0.5430, 95% CI [0.3978, 0.7229], accounting for 60.7% of the total effect. CONCLUSION: Career adaptability partially mediates the relationship between proactive personality and clinical practice behavior. Nursing education should focus on cultivating proactive personality and strengthening career adaptability to improve clinical practice behavior. However, longitudinal and multi-source studies are needed to validate the proposed pathway.