The relationship between nurses’ social network degree centrality and organizational citizenship behavior: The multiple mediating effects of job satisfaction and work engagement

BACKGROUND: In nursing care organizations, nurses’ social networks affect their behavior and play an important role in nursing practice. This study aimed to explore the relationships among social network degree centrality, job satisfaction, work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) among nurses. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey design (one-on-one investigation) was used. The study was conducted among 254 nurses working in 10 nursing units in two hospitals in China from November 2019–February 2020. The participants completed a paper questionnaire that measured social network degree centrality, job satisfaction, work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior. A structural equation model (SEM) was used to analyze the mediating effects of job satisfaction and work engagement. SPSS 22.0 and Amos 21.0 software were used, and the significance level was set at 5% for all analyses. RESULTS: Social network degree centrality was positively associated with job satisfaction, work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior, and job satisfaction and work engagement had significant positive relationships with organizational citizenship behavior. In addition, social network degree centrality influenced organizational citizenship behavior through the multiple mediating effects of job satisfaction and work engagement. CONCLUSIONS: Improving job satisfaction and work engagement can boost the positive effect of social network degree centrality on OCB.