Mediating Role of Mindfulness in the relationship between Workplace Spirituality and Work Engagement: A study of Private Sector Nurses in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Workplace spirituality has emerged as a vital construct in organisational research, influencing both business practices and employee outcomes. In the healthcare sector, particularly among private hospital nurses, declining work engagement has raised concerns about service quality and employee well-being. Given the critical role nurses play in patient care and the rising stressors within Sri Lanka’s private healthcare sector, examining workplace spirituality and mindfulness provides valuable insights into sustaining engagement in this unique cultural and occupational context. This study investigates the mediating role of mindfulness in the relationship between workplace spirituality and work engagement among nurses in private hospitals in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Workplace spirituality was examined through four dimensions: inner life, meaningful work, sense of community, and alignment with organisational values. An exploratory cross-sectional quantitative design was employed, using a structured self-administered questionnaire. Data were collected from a stratified random sample of 311 nurses and analysed with SPSS. Statistical techniques included factor analysis, descriptive statistics, correlation, multiple regression, and mediation analysis. Findings revealed a strong positive relationship between workplace spirituality and work engagement. Among its dimensions, meaningful work, sense of community, and alignment with organisational values significantly predicted engagement, while inner life showed no direct association. Contrary to expectations and prior findings from Western and public sector contexts, mindfulness did not exert a statistically significant mediating effect. These results highlight the influence of contextual factors on the workplace spirituality– engagement relationship. The study recommends integrating mindfulness practices into HR strategies to cultivate spiritually enriched and engaging work environments for nurses. It further calls for the development of HRM frameworks tailored to Sri Lanka’s healthcare sector and encourages future research on alternative psychological mediators in healthcare engagement studies.