Job Characteristics, Emotional Exhaustion, and Work–Family Conflict in Nurses

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify whether emotional exhaustion, a component of burnout, mediates the relationship between job demands, job resources, and work–family conflict (WFC). A cross-sectional design was used with survey data. A total of 1,202 nurses in eastern Canada participated in this study. Data were collected via an online survey and analyzed using mediation analysis. The results indicated that job demands and emotional exhaustion predicted WFC. Moreover, emotional exhaustion partially mediated the relationship between job demands, supervisor support, and WFC. This model also showed that younger nurses had increased WFC. Our study indicates that there are several direct and indirect pathways leading to WFC. Moreover, workplace resources can reduce emotional exhaustion, which, in turn, may help maintain work–family balance in nurses. These findings contribute to the existing knowledge on the precursors and consequences of burnout symptoms.

The effect of sleep disturbance on the association between work–family conflict and burnout in nurses: a cross-sectional study from South Korea

“…In our study, women had higher burnout than did men. Inconsistent with our study results, some studies do not show a difference in burnout by gender [ 6 ]. The proportion of male nurses is about 5% in Korea, 12% in the United States [ 25 ], 9% in Canada [ 26 ], and 8% in New Zealand [ 27 ]; that is, the proportion of male nurses worldwide is low.…”

“…Previous studies have shown an association between work–family conflict (WFC) and burnout, particularly pertaining to emotional fatigue, in nurses [ 5 ]. Nurses may experience burnout due to WFC, as it threatens positive resources, such as their psychological and physical health [ 6 , 7 ]. Greenhaus and Beutell [ 8 ] extended the theory of roles to define WFC as a form of role conflict that occurs when the burdens and responsibilities of work and family are incompatible.…”

Importance of rest and family relations as non-work psychosocial factors that affect nursing staff

“…Por tanto, parece ser que cuando en el conflicto se encuentra comprometida la familia o el conflicto es de tipo inter -rol, la visión de intranquilidad se reduce, aceptando la responsabilidad por ella, sin embargo, cuando se encuentran involucrados aspectos de la vida laboral, es más productivo encontrar las descripciones de su salud en aspectos que no tengan nada que ver con su responsabilidad. (24,25) En estas situaciones, las competencias internas se interrelacionan como un anhelo de realizar cualquier competencia que tienda a disminuir la advertencia que aparenta una situación.…”

Employer‐oriented flexible work in health care: A diary study on the resulting cognitive demands and their relationship with work–home outcomes

“…Existing research spotlights cognitive demands of flexible work (Allen et al., 2013; Allvin et al., 2011; Uhlig et al., 2022) and their relationship with employee well‐being (Meyer & Hünefeld, 2018), but their effects on work–home outcomes have not yet been sufficiently studied (Kubicek et al., 2022). In health care, research shows that specific job demands, like cognitive or interactional demands, can both be an antecedent of work–home conflict (Rhéaume, 2022) and a source of work–home enrichment (Solat et al., 2020). More precisely, Webster and Adams (2020) showed that challenge demands – demands that are difficult to overcome but hold the potential for learning and growth (e.g.…”