Job Crafting Profiles Among Chinese Generation Z New Nurses: The Role of Innovative Behavior and Management...

To identify the latent profiles of Chinese Generation Z new nurses' job crafting, explore their demographic characteristics, and examine the predictive role of innovative behaviors in distinct job crafting profiles.

New nurses experience high levels of stress and turnover intention during early career transition, highlighting the importance of proactive work behaviors. Although job crafting and innovative behavior are both considered important for professional development and workforce sustainability, evidence on their association and heterogeneity among new nurses remains limited.

This cross-sectional study was conducted using convenience sampling among new nurses from three tertiary hospitals in Midwestern China between March and May 2023. Participants completed the Innovative Behavior Scale, the Job Crafting Scale, and a demographic questionnaire. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was applied to identify potential subgroups of job crafting among new nurses. LPA was conducted using Mplus 8.3, while descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, analysis of variance, and multinomial logistic regression were performed using SPSS 27.0.

Three job crafting profiles were identified: "low job crafting profile" (43.3%), "moderate job crafting profile" (47.5%), and "high job crafting profile" (9.2%). Significant differences were observed in age, marital status, educational attainment, and innovative behavior (P< 0.05). Multinomial logistic regression further indicated that innovative behavior was a significant predictor of profile membership (P< 0.05).

Heterogeneity in job crafting among Chinese Generation Z new nurses and the key role of innovative behavior in shaping job crafting patterns are evident, with implications for targeted managerial strategies to support professional development.

Practical implications include tailoring management strategies to each profile: supporting foundational skills and psychological safety for nurses in the low job crafting profile, promoting gradual task enhancement and professional confidence-building for nurses in the Moderate job crafting profile, and sustaining empowerment and leadership development among nurses in the high job crafting profile.