Work engagement, emotional exhaustion, and OCB-civic virtue among nurses: a multilevel analysis of emotional supervisor support

Introduction: This study investigates the moderating role of supervisor emotional support at the group level on the relationship between emotional exhaustion and work engagement with organizational citizenship behavior-civic virtue (OCB-civic virtue) at the individual level among nurses. Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 558 nurses nested in 36 working units from two hospitals in Algiers. A multilevel analysis using Hierarchical Linear Modeling was performed. Results: Results show that the positive effect of work engagement on OCB-civic virtue was moderated by supervisor emotional support at group level. The nurses emotional exhaustion and OCB-civic virtue negative relationship at the individual level is buffered by supervisor emotional support at group level. Discussion: In consequence, supervisor emotional support experienced by the team has an influence on the emotional exhaustion and work engagement OCB-civic virtue relationship.