Engagement, Passion and Meaning of Work as Modulating Variables in Nursing: A Theoretical Analysis

Abstract

Nurses are continuously exposed to stressors and psychological and physical risks that can negatively influence their daily work. These adverse psychosocial circumstances, accompanied by the poor self-perception of health, well-being, and quality of life, may trigger burnout. The positive psychology approach pursues a growth of passion at work, increased job satisfaction, and occupational health, both mental and physical, for the optimal performance of the nursing role. In this way, a theoretical analysis was conducted to describe the basic constructs of positive psychology, elements such as engagement, passion at work, centrality, and meaning of work, which could act as protective factors in the nursing profession. The results show that if health professionals are not physically involved, cognitively alert, and emotionally connected, they may not offer the quality care patients require. Positive psychology helps nurses in facing their complex reality and relevant daily activities in order to provide quality care. These efforts towards a humanist nursing care in which professionals are able to care for the others as well as themselves should be made.

Predicting workplace loneliness in the nursing profession

“…Working in a hospital can involve both physical risks and psychological strain for nurses (Gomez‐Salgado et al, 2019). Dealing with the hardships in this profession may require “more than monetary and/or job security rewards” (Malloy et al, 2015, p. 7).…”

“…Pavlish and Hunt (2012) reported that nurses who take on a managerial role experience a greater sense of work meaning and satisfaction by “improving the quality of care by nurturing opportunities” (p. 113). When work becomes excessively task‐centred and ignores relationships, meaningfulness in work may decrease substantially among nurses.In general, finding work meaningful does contribute to both task and contextual performances (Gómez‐Salgado et al, 2019; Tong, 2018), job satisfaction and mental and physical occupational health (Gómez‐Salgado et al, 2019).…”

“…Although loneliness has been found to be common among nurses, very few studies have looked for reasons why nurses might experience loneliness at work (Amarat, Akbolat, Ùnal, & Karakaya, 2019). In their work environment, nurses experience stress, both psychologically and physically, which can result in burnout (Gómez‐Salgado et al, 2019) and feelings of loneliness (Seppala & King, 2017). Estryn‐Behar et al (2007) surveyed 28,561 hospital nurses from 10 European countries and reported that the intention to leave their employment increases three times due to burnout.…”

Engagement in primary health care nurses: A cross‐sectional study in a Brazilian city

“…Engagement is positively influenced by the diversity and complexity of work activities, organizational support, autonomy, exchange of leaders, problem-solving ability, exchange of team members, and friendship in workplace positively influence levels of engagement. Negative influences can include working conditions, physical demands, and stress (Dasgupta, 2016;Gómez-Salgado, Navarro-Abal, López-López, Romero-Martín, & Climent-Rodríguez, 2019).…”

How on-the-job training improves general practice service teams’ understanding of GPs’ roles in China: A qualitative case study

“…Intent to resign and job burnout are related to professional identity [11,12] . However, there has been little research on the professional identity of GPs in China; it has been suggested that this is dynamic and depends on social context.…”