Workplace spirituality as a predictor of nursing self-efficacy and job embeddedness

INTRODUCTION: Egypt’s healthcare system faces significant challenges for the nursing workforce, including high turnover rates and job dissatisfaction. Understanding the factors that enhance nurse retention and self-efficacy is crucial for improving healthcare delivery in the Egyptian context, where workplace spirituality may play a significant role, given cultural and religious values. AIM: This study examined the relationships between workplace spirituality, self-efficacy, and job embeddedness among nurses and investigated whether self-efficacy mediates the relationships among these factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2025 with 305 nurses employed at the Oncology Center of Mansoura University Hospitals. Data were collected using the workplace spirituality scale, self-efficacy scale, and job embeddedness scale. Statistical analyses included Pearson correlation, multiple regression, hierarchical regression, and path analysis using SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 23.0. RESULTS: Correlation analyses revealed the strongest relationship between workplace spirituality and job embedding (r = 0.365), moderate correlations between self-efficacy and job embeddedness (r = 0.250), and weak associations between workplace spirituality and self-efficacy (r = 0.166). Regression analyses confirmed workplace spirituality was a significant predictor of outcomes with different effect sizes. While workplace spirituality weakly predicted self-efficacy (β = 0.166, 2.8% variance), it strongly predicted job embeddedness (β = 0.365, 13.3% variance). Years of experience dominated the self-efficacy prediction (27.6% variance). Path analysis revealed self-efficacy as a partial mediator, although the mediation effect was modest (indirect effect = 0.032) compared to the direct effect (0.270). CONCLUSIONS: Workplace spirituality significantly predicted nursing self-efficacy and job embeddedness with more potent effects on job embeddedness. Self-efficacy partially mediates this relationship; however, workplace spirituality influences job embeddedness primarily through direct pathways, suggesting that multiple mechanisms enhance nurses’ retention and organizational attachment in nursing environments. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.