The relationship between compassion tendency and medical curiosity among nursing interns in the early stage of internship: a moderated mediation model

To examine the relationship between compassion tendency and medical curiosity among nursing students in the early stage of internship, and to provide evidence for nursing educators to foster medical curiosity among nursing interns. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 738 nursing students from three tertiary grade-A hospitals in Henan Province between May and September 2025 using convenience sampling. Data were collected using a general information questionnaire, the Medical Curiosity Scale, the Compassion Tendency Scale, and the Positive Psychological Capital Questionnaire to examine the associations among compassion tendency, medical curiosity, positive psychological capital, and nursing career intention in the early stage of internship. The medical curiosity score of nursing students in the early stage of internship was 47.12 ± 11.35. Compassion tendency was positively associated with medical curiosity (B = 0.295, P < 0.001). Positive psychological capital was positively associated with medical curiosity (B = 0.323, P < 0.001) and partially mediated the association between compassion tendency and medical curiosity (R² = 0.623, F = 303.106), with the mediating effect accounting for 38.51% of the total effect. Nursing career intention moderated the association between compassion tendency and positive psychological capital (B = 0.149, t = 2.497, P < 0.05, 95% CI [0.032, 0.266]), and this association was stronger among nursing students who intended to pursue a nursing career after graduation. Among nursing students in the early stage of internship, compassion tendency was positively associated with medical curiosity; positive psychological capital partially mediated this association, and nursing career intention positively moderated the first stage of the mediation pathway. Nursing educators are advised to strengthen the cultivation of compassion tendency and positive psychological capital, thereby providing support for maintaining medical curiosity and willingness for professional exploration among nursing students in the early stage of internship.