Social supports and mental health: a cross-sectional study on the correlation of self-consistency and congruence in China

BACKGROUND: Psychosocial job characteristics require nursing staff with high self-consistency and good mental health. However, the attention and effort of such study remained very limited in China. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the bedside nurses in an affiliated hospital of Hebei Medical University, China. Of 218 registered bedside nurses eligible to participate in the survey anonymously, the data producing sample of 172 subjects resulted in a 79 % of effective response rate.. The Social Support Rating Scale was used to measure social support, and the Self-Consistency and Congruence Scale were used to measure mental health. RESULTS: Compared with the normal referenced group of college students, higher self-flexibility scores, lower self-conflict and self-stethoscope scores from the sample group were obtained with statistical significance in self-conflict scores. The close correlations were observed between participants’ social support and Self-Consistency and Congruence Scale score. The difference of Social Support Rating Scale score was significant in demographic features including years of work, marital status, only child family, and levels of cooperation with other health worker. CONCLUSIONS: Bedside nurses in this study show a better inner harmony, and their Self-Consistency and Congruence closely correlates with the levels of social support. Thus, it is substantial to improve inner perception of support and external factors, such as the workplace support, and offer beneficial social environment to improve the bedside nurse’s sub-health symptoms and decrease the high turnover rate. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-016-1463-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.