Integrating support, trust, and self-efficacy to enhance work engagement: the moderating role of basic psychological needs among nurses

The research design is an integrated model whereby perceived organizational support (POS) supports work engagement (WE) via organizational trust (OT) and self-efficacy (SE), and basic psychological needs (BPN) is used as the moderator between perceived organizational support and work engagement among nurses working in a hospital. It is based on the Organizational Support, Social Exchange, Social Cognitive, and Self-Determination theories. It analyzes data from 812 nurses in four public hospitals using structural equation modeling and the PROCESS macro. These findings confirmed that POS had a positive impact on WE, OT, and SE, and that OT and SE partially mediated the relationship between POS and WE. The effects of POS, OT, and SE on WE, with the impact of BPN, reinforced the role of nurses in improving engagement, as autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs of nurses were fulfilled. The results have shown the existence of supportive and trust-based settings, which increase engagement by increasing self-efficacy and satisfying psychological needs. This paper contributes to the theory of engagement and gives practical recommendations on how to create empowering workplaces that meet needs in healthcare.