Testing work characteristics as mediating factors in the relationships among nurse leadership, burnout, and engagement

摘要

Nurse staff burnout is a critical element of the quality of worklife for nurses, due to burnout’s positive relationship with turnover/turnover intentions. This study attempted to bridge the gap between two areas of related research: transformational leadership and burnout/engagement, using work characteristics (i.e., areas of worklife: AWL) as mediators of the relationship between leadership and burnout/engagement. A sample (N = 142) of practicing nursing students and full-time working nurses who were recruited from a university, hospital, and social network connections completed a questionnaire that gathered their perceptions of nurse leadership, AWL, and burnout/engagement. Results suggested that transformational leadership is strongly related to AWL, and that specific AWL mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and burnout/engagement. The model used in this study is situational and its measures have the ability to locate the sources of burnout/engagement.