BackgroundThe neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a sensitive ward for nurses. However, the low nurse-to-patient ratio has led to the hiring of novice nurses into the critical areas such as NICUs. These nurses are in need of help in the clinical environment as they have no much experience caring the neonates in the real clinical setting. Therefore, it is necessary to address the individual and psychological capacities with the help of which a person can overcome the difficult situations. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between metacognitions, clinical belongingness, and resilience of novice nursing staff in NICU wards.MethodThis study is a descriptive-analytical study, and the research samples were composed of 78 novice nursing staff of Neonatal Intensive Care Units from teaching hospitals. Samples were selected via a purposive sampling method. Research tools included demographic, Wells and Hatton metacognitive beliefs, Jones Levitt belonging, and Connor–Davidson resilience questionnaires. SPSS 22 software was used for data analysis.ResultsThe mean score of metacognitive beliefs in novice nursing staff was 92.67 ± 13.69, and it was 116.69 ± 19.11 for belongingness and 78.78 ± 14.73 for resilience. There is positive and significant relationship between metacognitive beliefs and belongingness (p< 0.019,r= 0.265). In addition, the relationship between metacognitive beliefs and resilience in novice nursing staff was positive and significant (p< 0.001,r= 0.359).ConclusionThere is a positive relationship between metacognitive beliefs with belongingness and resilience of novice nurses; nursing managers can consider educational metacognition workshops to enhance the sense of belongingness and resilience of novice nursing staff leading to improve their clinical performance in neonatal care.