Abstract
BackgroundWork–family conflict (WFC) is a crucial problem in nursing because of the demanding conditions of the job, such as strenuous shifts, physical and emotional workload, and intense patient involvement. Using a multilevel approach, this study investigated the moderating role of collective affective commitment as a protective resource in the relationship between WFC and emotional exhaustion.MethodsThe sample included 647 nurses from 66 working units in 4 Italian hospitals. A self-administrated questionnaire was administered to nurses. To analyze data, hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine cross-level relationships between variables.ResultsThe results indicated that emotional exhaustion increased with augmenting of WFC and that this relationship was stronger when collective affective commitment was low and weaker when it was high.ConclusionsThe study thus suggests that collective affective commitment may be considered a protective resource for nurses. Moreover, the results show that high work–family conflict should not represent a serious problem when nurses have high affective commitment. Interventions at both individual and group level are discussed in order to mitigate WFC, promoting collective affective commitment and thus reducing emotional exhaustion.
Highlights
Work–family conflict (WFC) is a crucial problem in nursing because of the demanding conditions of the job, such as strenuous shifts, physical and emotional workload, and intense patient involvement
Collective affective commitment is hypothesized to be a protective resource: we propose that in a work environment characterized by collective affective commitment, nurses feel emotionally bonded to their workgroup and are more likely to internalize the values and goals of the group, reducing the magnifying effects of WFC on emotional exhaustion
Confirmatory factor analysis The results for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed that the hypothesized three-factor model fitted the data: χ2 = 420.49 df = 51, p < .001, Root-Mean-Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = .11, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = .90, Tucker Lewis Index (TLI) =
Summary
Work–family conflict (WFC) is a crucial problem in nursing because of the demanding conditions of the job, such as strenuous shifts, physical and emotional workload, and intense patient involvement. (2019) 18:5 and both job and life dissatisfaction [11] These effects can be explained using Conservation of Resources theory [12], an integrated model of stress theories, which states that individuals try to attain and maintain resources to get desired outcomes and that stress takes place when there is a feeling of loss (e.g., energy, time, self-efficacy). In this sense, work–family conflict would influence stress, because in WFC resources are lost to struggle to manage and balance work and family roles [12]. Given the nature of nurses’ work, we can expect to find a relationship between high WFC and emotional exhaustion
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