The impact of job burnout on nurses' caring behaviors: Exploring the mediating role of work engagement and job motivation

AIM: To investigate the influence of job burnout on nurses' caring behaviors, with a specific focus on the serial mediating role of work engagement and job motivation. BACKGROUND: Job burnout is a prevalent issue among nurses and poses significant challenges to their ability to deliver compassionate care. However, the underlying mechanisms that explain the relationship between job burnout and nurses' caring behaviors, which could provide valuable insights for developing targeted interventions and strategies to support nurse well-being and ensure the consistent provision of compassionate care, remain underexplored. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was used to gather data from 520 clinical nurses working in various acute healthcare settings in the Philippines. Mediation analyses were conducted using the PROCESS Macro with Model 6. RESULTS: Nurses exhibited high levels of caring behaviors (M = 4.219); however, they experienced moderate levels of job burnout (M = 2.342). Job burnout had a negative effect (β = -0.0603, p = 0.0482) on nurses' caring behaviors. Work engagement and job motivation sequentially mediated the relationship between job burnout and nurse caring behaviors (β = -0.0126, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Higher levels of job burnout were associated with a decreased demonstration of nurses' caring behaviors. Job burnout among nurses led to a decrease in their level of work engagement and job motivation, ultimately impacting their ability to provide caring behaviors to patients. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: Organizations should prioritize creating a positive work environment and implementing theory-driven strategies to address job burnout, which can foster work engagement and job motivation among nurses, thereby providing crucial support for them in delivering high-quality, compassionate care to patients.