Mitigating the impact of emotional exhaustion among young intensive care unit nurses: A structural equation model based on the conservation of resources theory

BACKGROUND: As the backbone of the intensive care unit nursing team, young nurses' emotional and psychological well-being is related to the physiological health and life outcomes of critically ill patients. AIM: Exploring the impact of access to and utilization of organizational resources on emotional exhaustion among intensive care unit nurses. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey. SPSS 27.0 was used for descriptive analysis and Pearson correlation analysis. AMOS 25.0 was used to construct the structural equation model and conduct the Bootstrap test. RESULTS: A total of 447 valid questionnaires were ultimately included, with a validity rate of 91.2%. The results showed that the turnover intention of young intensive care unit nurses was high (2.06 ± 0.67). Emotional exhaustion positively predicts nurses' turnover intentions (β = 0.30, p < .001). Inclusive leadership (β = 0.075, 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.116, p < .001) and distributive justice (β = 0.090, 95% CI: 0.059 to 0.132, p < .001), as organizational resources, respectively moderate the relationship between emotional exhaustion and turnover intention, and play a chain-mediated role in their relationship (β = 0.055, 95% CI: 0.036 to 0.081, p < .000). Additionally, the study did not show a direct effect of emotional exhaustion on work engagement (β = -0.07, p = .083). Instead, this relationship is mediated through distributive justice (but not inclusive leadership) (β = -0.203, 95% CI: -0.258 to -0.146, p < .001). At the same time, inclusive leadership and distributive justice serve as serial mediators in the mechanism by which emotional exhaustion affects work engagement (β = -0.125, 95% CI: -0.167 to -0.096, p < .000). CONCLUSIONS: This study emphasizes that organizational resources can effectively alleviate the impact of emotional exhaustion among young intensive care unit nurses. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Health care institutions and nursing managers need to recognize the importance of utilizing organizational resources and take necessary measures to alleviate emotional exhaustion among intensive care unit nurses. By implementing effective policies, they can enhance nurses' work engagement and retain nursing talent.