ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Healthcare Professions Education
This article is part of the Research TopicFostering Wellness in Health Science Education: Empowering Students for a Healthier Future in HealthcareView all 7 articles
The Impact of Transition Shock on Moral Sensitivity among Nursing Interns and Its Mechanism: A Cross-Sectional Study
Provisionally accepted
Xuyan Liu1
RenLong Liang2*
Jijun Wu1Xiaoli Zhong1*YiWei Li1Yin Yuan1Heng Ding2Tingting Cai2
Tingting Ruan1- 1People’s Hospital of Deyang City, Deyang, China
- 2Deyang Hospital Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Deyang, China
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Background: Nursing interns experience transition shock when shifting from theory to practice. This shock continuously depletes their psychological resources, leading to self-doubt. Consequently, their attention to patients' ethical situations is diverted, and their moral sensitivity decreases. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the underlying mechanisms and propose strategies to mitigate the impact of transition shock on moral sensitivity. Methods: An online questionnaire survey was conducted among participants from June to December 2024. The survey included questions about general demographics, the Transition Shock Scale for Undergraduate Nursing Students, the Self-Compassion Scale, the Chinese Revised Version of the Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire, and the Chinese Calling Scale. Spearman correlation analysis was used to clarify the correlations among variables. Models 4 and 7 in the PROCESS v4.2 macro (a plug-in for SPSS 27) were used to verify the mediating and moderating effects, respectively. RStudio was used to plot the simple slope graph. Results :Among nursing interns, transition shock was a key predictor of moral sensitivity, with a significant negative correlation (r=-0.320,P<0.01). Self-compassion partially mediated the relationship between transition shock and moral sensitivity, accounting for 42.59% of the total effect. Additionally, calling attenuated the negative predictive effect of transition shock on self-compassion. As calling increased, the mediating effect of self-compassion gradually decreased. Conclusion:Educational institutions and internship hospitals should strengthen the cultivation of self-compassion and calling among nursing interns. This can alleviate
Keywords: calling, moderated mediation, MoralSensitivity, Nursing interns, self-compassion, Transition shock
Received: 22 Dec 2025; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Liu, Liang, Wu, Zhong, Li, Yuan, Ding, Cai and Ruan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
RenLong Liang
Xiaoli Zhong
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