Job Demands, Resources and Burnout Among Polish Nurses During the Late Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Emotional Labor

Abstract

ObjectiveBurnout has been recognized as a serious health problem. Nurses as a professional group are at a high risk of burnout occurrence, especially when facing burden associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite evidence that higher job demands lead to burnout, there is less known about the indirect effect of job demands and resources on burnout via surface acting. Using the JD-R framework, this study examined how job demands and resources affected burnout among Polish nurses and whether these relationships are mediated by surface acting and moderated by coping with the workload.Materials and MethodsA sample of 270 nurses from the biggest hospital in Southern Poland filled out an online questionnaire at the time between the fourth and the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland. The Polish adaptations of Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI), Organizational Constraints Scale (OCS), Interpersonal Conflict at Work Scale (ICAWS), Areas of Worklife Survey (AWS), and Emotional Labor Scale (ELS) were used. Mediation and moderation analyses were carried out in the SPSS macro-PROCESS.ResultsSurface acting partially mediated the positive association between organizational constraints and interpersonal conflict at work and burnout, as well as the negative association between the perceived organizational support and burnout. Coping with workload moderated the direct effect of organizational constraints on burnout via surface acting.ConclusionThe findings enrich the knowledge of the mediating and moderating mechanisms to explain the association between job demands, resources and burnout among nurses. There have been proposed interventions concerning increasing organizational support, effective emotional regulation of management education and psychological training regarding adequate coping strategies which could help reduce or prevent the occurrence of burnout in this professional group.

Emotional burden in social professions and its implications – presentation of own research results against a literature review

“…Another predictor of high levels of stress is the suppression of emotions. Initial stress reactions -such as tension, anxiety, and symptoms of psychosomatic disorders -can give rise to secondary as well as tertiary health problems including both those from the domain of mental health with subclinical severity and emotional disorders (Chen et al, 2022;Gabriel et al, 2023;Galanis et al, 2021;Wójcik et al, 2022). OBS is particularly prevalent in the health care sector, where the proportion of workers suffering from burnout is estimated to be between 35 and 80 per cent.…”

“…The occupational group of nurses is regarded as the most vulnerable to burnout. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the level of burnout among nurses increased in many countries around the world (Wójcik et al, 2022). The employees of emergency notification system centres were found to be equally emotionally exhausted and at risk of burnout (Schumann et al, 2023).…”

The Impact of Dialectical Behavior Therapy in Reducing Emotional Exhaustion and Enhancing Empathy

“…It is associated with numerous adverse outcomes, including reduced job performance, increased absenteeism, and a higher incidence of mental health issues. The increasing prevalence of emotional exhaustion highlights the need for effective interventions to mitigate its impact and enhance emotional well-being (Golparvar & Parsakia, 2023;Hojat et al, 2015;Wojcik et al, 2022).…”