This study aimed to examine the relationship between career adaptability and transition shock among novice nursing interns in China, with a focus on the chain-mediating role of affective domain ability and feedback-seeking behaviour. This was a multicentre, cross-sectional survey. Between June and September 2024, we employed a multistage stratified cluster sampling approach to recruit 1,461 novice nursing interns from nine higher education institutions in Hubei Province. Data on demographic characteristics, the Transition Shock Scale, the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale, the Revised Affective Domain Ability Scale, and the Feedback-Seeking Behaviour Scale were collected using standardised instruments. Descriptive analysis, Pearson’s correlation tests, and a structural equation model were constructed in AMOS to analyse the chain-mediated roles of affective domain ability and feedback-seeking behaviour in the relationship between career adaptability and transition shock. Transition shock had a significant negative correlation with career adaptability, affective domain ability, and feedback-seeking behaviour (all p<0.05). Career adaptability exerted both direct and indirect effects on transition shock, with the total indirect effect representing 44.55% of the total effect. This indirect effect operates through three pathways: the sole mediating role of affective domain ability, the sole mediating role of feedback-seeking behaviour, and the chain mediating role formed by both together, explaining 15.27%, 21.09%, and 8.18% of the total effect, respectively. The findings validate a resource-gain spiral underpinned by the Conservation of Resource theory, revealing a chain mediating role whereby career adaptability influences transition shock through affective domain ability and feedback-seeking behaviour. This provides theoretical grounding and empirical support for optimising nursing talent development and alleviating novice nurses’ transitional stress within China’s hierarchically structured clinical environment.
Lei et al. (Sat,) studied this question.