The Relationship Between Work Engagement and Safety Behaviour of Oncology Nurses: A Latent Profile Analysis

This study aims to identify distinct profiles of work engagement among oncology nurses through Latent Profile Analysis and explore how these profiles influence nurse safety behaviour. A cross-sectional design with latent profile analysis. A total of 957 oncology nurses from tertiary hospitals across five provinces and municipalities in China participated in this questionnaire-based study. Data were collected on demographic information, the Work Engagement Scale, the General Self-Efficacy Scale and the Nurse Safety Behaviour Scale. The analysis was conducted using SPSS 24.0 and Mplus 8.3, with Latent Profile Analysis, R3STEP and BCH methods employed to uncover underlying patterns and relationships. The results revealed three distinct profiles of work engagement: 'Highly Efficient and Focused Type' (43.7%), 'Moderately Balanced Type' (37.4%) and 'Low Effort and Coping Type' (18.9%). The distribution of these profiles was closely related to factors such as weekly working hours, adverse event experiences, safety training experiences and self-efficacy. Moreover, these work engagement profiles positively impacted nurse safety behaviour. The study demonstrates that different work engagement profiles significantly influence the safety behaviour of oncology nurses. Key factors such as weekly working hours, adverse event experiences, safety training experiences and self-efficacy play a crucial role in shaping these work engagement profiles. The findings provide a new perspective and intervention approach for enhancing work engagement and nurse safety behaviour. It is recommended that hospital management develop personalised training and incentive measures tailored to nurses with different characteristics to improve overall nursing quality and patient safety. No patient or public involvement.