The role of human agency in nurses' hopeful career state

This study explores the role of human agency in shaping the hopeful career state (HCS) of nurses in Oman during the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizing the enhanced critical incident technique (ECIT) and integrating Albert Bandura's three modes of agency (i.e., personal, proxy, and collective), this study aimed to identify helping and hindering factors affecting Omani nurses' HCS during the pandemic, while uncovering their wishes. Sixteen nurses from Oman's public healthcare sector were interviewed. The top three helping factors were family support (81.3%), support from leaders and senior colleagues (56.3%), and multidisciplinary team collaboration (43.8%). The most frequently reported hindering factors were lack of equipment, supplies, and infrastructure (100%), shortage of nurses (56.3%), and increased workload (50%). The top three wish-list items included specialized hospitals for infectious diseases (62.5%), training and staff development (43.8%), and more nurses (31.3%). Through force-field analysis, we delineated the agents and modes of agency at play, offering insights for targeted Human Resource Development (HRD) interventions. This study contributes to the HRD literature by illustrating the dynamic interplay of agency factors in crisis conditions. The findings highlight the need for HRD practitioners to develop multilevel interventions that foster personal, proxy, and collective agency to support healthcare workers' HCS during crises, providing a foundation for future strategies in healthcare and beyond.