Most workers are exposed to various degrees of stress while performing their jobs, and their psychological health is known to affect the outcomes of their work. In particular, when workers have better socio-psychological health, they are more engaged in their work, more satisfied with their job performance, and experience an increase in subjective well-being [1]. The meaning found in work is considered a source of meaning in life as well [2,3], thus greatly impacting an individual's life. From the perspective of positive psychology, positive emotions and meaning are not only complementary dimensions but particularly, the meaning in work is considered a motivational factor in job performance [4,5]. The more significantly a worker perceives the meaning in their work, the higher the sense of autonomy they feel in their job, leading to greater job performance, job satisfaction, mental health, and life satisfaction [4]. Therefore, exploring the meaning in work among workers is very important in predicting job satisfaction.

Police officers work at the forefront of various incidents and crimes, operating in environments that are physically and psychologically threatening [6]. Due to the unique nature of their duties, such as shift work and long working hours, coupled with exposure to life-threatening situations, there is a very high potential for the occurrence of negative factors such as burnout and mental health issues among them [7]. Therefore, the performance of their duties not only affects the job satisfaction and personal health of police officers but also hurts society's safety net and socio-economic costs. However, when individuals perceive their work as meaningful, they tend to invest more effort due to the solid intrinsic motivation associated with the work [8], which improves personal meaning in life and quality, mental health, job satisfaction, and commitment [9]. Furthermore, it tends to reduce negative emotions such as depression and hostility, as well as tendencies for job turnover and the use of sick leave.

Job satisfaction among police officers, just like other workers, influences job performance-related factors such as the degree of job execution, commitment, and intention to leave, but also has a positive effect on the relationship between citizens and police officers [10,11]. An improved relationship with citizens means that police officers better understand and support the community [11], and it can be seen as recognizing that their work is not simply a means to earn income but an act of obtaining understanding for individuals and the surrounding environment and performing greater good. Ultimately, it can be said that police officers who find satisfaction in their work play a positive role in society. However, domestic research focusing on police officers has centered mainly on job satisfaction, and studies exploring how these officers perceive the meaning in their work are rare.

Wellness refers to a state in which the physical, emotional, social, cognitive, and occupational domains are in harmonious balance [12], and the wellness of police officers is deeply related to personal health promotion and quality of life. The wellness of police officers, who are in a unique work environment, is closely related to public safety, and their low level of wellness is associated with decreased work ability and job satisfaction [8]. In other words, the wellness of police officers, prone to imbalance in physical, emotional, social, cognitive, and occupational domains due to shift work, significantly impacts the meaning in work and job satisfaction [5,13]. Due to the nature of the police organization, there is a very lack of literature reported on the mental health of police officers.

According to Duffy et al. [14] meaning in work mediated between calling and job satisfaction. Also, meaning in work significantly affects job satisfaction [15]. Despite the importance of their wellness and the meaning in work in job performance, studies directly exploring the relationship between these variables are scarce. Therefore, this study aims to enhance the understanding of police officers' job performance by identifying their level of wellness, job satisfaction, and the significance of work and examining the relationships between these variables. Moreover, this study aims to elucidate the mediating role of work meaning in the link between wellness and job satisfaction. This study was conducted to provide essential data for psychiatric nursing interventions that can explore more fundamental values and meanings of life, along with addressing psychiatric issues such as identity in the profession of police officers, which are directly linked to public safety.

The objective of this research was to confirm the role of work meaning as a mediator in the link between wellness and job satisfaction among police officers, with the goal of offering psychiatric nursing interventions to enhance job satisfaction within this group.

First, the wellness score of the study participants was found to be 3.40. Although it is difficult to make a direct comparison due to the absence of studies conducted on the same occupational group, the average wellness score of workers in a large-scale workplace was 3.46[20], and the wellness score of firefighters was 3.72[21], which is higher than the results of this study's participants. Among the sub-factors, social wellness showed the highest score, which seems to reflect the efforts of police officers to communicate to contribute to the improvement of the local community [22] and shows that their peers accept them and have secured a network within relatively well-structured organizational systems. On the other hand, the score for physical wellness was found to be the lowest. Similar results were reported in a study [21] that found social wellness to be the highest and physical wellness to be the lowest among workers, which supports the results of this study. This shows that it is not easy for police officers who work shifts and long hours to maintain appropriate weight through regular exercise and a balanced diet while performing their job. It also appears to reflect the occupational characteristics of having both major and minor injuries due to extensive physical use. Health issues among workers can lead to adverse outcomes such as reduced work capacity, productivity loss, and personal problems [1]. It seems necessary to develop psychiatric nursing interventions that can enhance the physical and psychological wellness of police officers, who have a socially important role, and it is necessary to prepare intervention measures for them.

In this study, the mean score of meaning in work was 3.49. While direct comparisons with the same profession are challenging due to the lack of similar studies, research with nurses—who have a similar work structure—showed scores of 3.05 [23] and 3.57 [24], indicating that the participants in this study had either higher or lower scores. Notably, among the sub-factors, the motivation for contributing to a greater good scored the highest, which seems to reflect the police officers' characteristic desire to create a brighter and more positive society. Conversely, finding positive meaning in their work scored the lowest, which may indicate a discrepancy between expectations and the rewards or fulfillment derived from their work. The perception of meaning at work is crucial as it relates to the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, which enhances life satisfaction and contributes to organizational retention [24]. Therefore, efforts are needed to find strategies that enhance the meaning of police officers' work and to implement methods using psychiatric nursing interventions.

The job satisfaction score was 3.36 on average, which is somewhat higher compared to a similar study on nurses working in shift patterns at university hospitals, where the average job satisfaction score was 3.10 [23]. Although it is difficult to find studies using the same instrument specifically on police officers, this comparison with nurses suggests that police officers might experience a higher job satisfaction. The most potent predictive variable for job satisfaction among police officers was stress [25,26], indicating that as work-related pressure and frustration increase, so does the likelihood of job dissatisfaction. This study's participants mainly showed high intrinsic satisfaction, which is a high level of satisfaction derived from the work itself. However, extrinsic satisfaction was the lowest, which may reflect the finding that the more police officers are satisfied with their job, the more they believe their work is meaningful and involves helping others and collaborating with people [26]. The results of job satisfaction and its sub-variables in this study were similar to those related to the sense of meaning in work. Job satisfaction is an essential factor that enables workers to be more engaged in their work, underscoring the need to develop intervention programs to enhance job satisfaction among police officers. Moreover, job satisfaction has a positive impact not only on workplace attitudes and performance but also on an individual's life [27], suggesting that consideration should be given to enhancing the wellness of police officers to improve their job satisfaction. The nature of police work being exposed to severe stress, such as post-traumatic stress, could be a differentiating factor from other occupations [28]. Given the results of this study, it can be suggested that to improve the job satisfaction of police officers, it is necessary to develop a psychiatric nursing intervention that enhances their overall wellness.

Lastly, the meaning in work showed a partial mediating effect between wellness and job satisfaction. This aligns with research findings [9] that suggest an improvement in the meaning in life and quality of life, as well as mental health, enhances job satisfaction and dedication. The more a worker finds their work meaningful, the higher they perceive autonomy in their duties, which improves job performance and job satisfaction and increases life satisfaction [4]. Although it has been proven that the meaning in work is an essential element for workers, these previous studies looked at the meaning in work as a mediating effect within the same occupation were hard to find. However, it was evident that, similar to studies involving general employees, the meaning in work is a mediator in job satisfaction [14]. Therefore, it would be possible to maximize job satisfaction for police officers by not only implementing psychiatric nursing interventions that enhance wellness but also by incorporating elements that strengthen the meaning in work in such programs.

The significance of this study is as follows. First, this study can help understand the mental health of occupational groups that have irregular working hours, unpredictable tasks, and exposure to various incidents. Second, by confirming the partial mediating effect of the meaning in work on the relationship between police officers' wellness and job satisfaction, it has provided ideas for developing psychiatric nursing interventions to improve their job satisfaction. However, despite the significance of this research, it has the following limitations. Firstly, since the subjects of this study are limited to those participating in job training programs, there may be difficulties in generalizing the results. Therefore, further research is needed that examines differences in job and rank among police officers in various regions. Secondly, since this study targets a small number of police officers, the interpretation of this result needs to be cautious. Therefore, it is thought that subsequent research should consider job-related variables that may affect the wellness and job satisfaction of police officers.

The results of this study indicated that wellness is a factor that influences the meaning in work, and the meaning in work, in turn, affects job satisfaction. Furthermore, the meaning in work mediates the path through which wellness impacts job satisfaction. To enhance job satisfaction among police officers, it is necessary to promote wellness and develop psychiatric nursing interventions that can help find meaning in work and apply it through various strategies. Based on the findings of this study, several recommendations are proposed. Firstly, additional studies are required to explore the mediating role of meaning in work within the context of the relationship between wellness and job satisfaction among police officers who are stationed in diverse regions and perform a variety of tasks. Secondly, as the meaning in work has been shown to mediate the relationship between wellness and job satisfaction among police officers, there is a need for the development and subsequent validation of psychiatric nursing intervention to enhance the meaning of work to improve their wellness and job satisfaction.