Background. Emergency department (ED) nurses are prone to develop burnout, however, they also tend to be engaged in their work. The goals of this study were twofold: (1) to establish the frequency...Show moreBackground. Emergency department (ED) nurses are prone to develop burnout, however, they also tend to be engaged in their work. The goals of this study were twofold: (1) to establish the frequency of ED nurses in four burnout - work engagement profiles, and (2) to investigate which work characteristics best separated the four burnout – work engagement profiles. Method. A cross-sectional study was done among 967 ED nurses working in one of 28 hospitals in the Netherlands (response rate 74%). The data was gathered using an online questionnaire. A frequency analysis and a descriptive discriminant analysis were performed. Two separate analyses were done for emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Results. For emotional exhaustion, the engaged profile was most prevalent among the ED nurses in this sample, followed by the burnout, unengaged and engaged-burnout profiles. For depersonalization, the engaged profile was also most prevalent, followed by the burnout, engaged-burnout and unengaged profiles. Two functions were generated by the descriptive discriminant analysis: (1) the Job Demands-Resources (JDR) function and (2) the mastery function. The JDR function separated the burnout from the engaged profile. When nurses scored high on job demands and low on job resources, they were more likely to be in the burnout profile, and vice versa for the engaged profile. Work-time demands and autonomy were primarily responsible for group separation for burnout overall. For emotional exhaustion staffing was also primarily important, whereas for depersonalization, educational and developmental possibilities and (financial) appreciation were also primarily important for group separation. The mastery function separated the engaged-burnout from the unengaged profile. When nurses had educational and developmental possibilities, and experienced a higher frequency of emotionally demanding and conflict/aggression situations, they were more likely to be in the engaged-burnout profile, and vice versa for the unengaged profile. Conclusion. This study provided insight in the interplay between burnout, work engagement, job demands and job resources. This study shows the importance to improve the ED working environment as many nurses are burned out, and showed that ED nurses can be burned out and engaged simultaneously. The findings support the Job Demands-Resources Model, and show that enhancing job demands and job resources is important to facilitate engaged ED nurses.Show less
Existing research has shown that managerial networking can positively affect organizational performance. Moreover, it has pointed out contextual variables, concerned with the characteristics of an...Show moreExisting research has shown that managerial networking can positively affect organizational performance. Moreover, it has pointed out contextual variables, concerned with the characteristics of an organization (or its environment) as a whole, that may impact this relationship. However, individual characteristics of public managers have been overlooked. This study examines the moderating effect of public managers’ job-related attitudes – specifically work autonomy, work engagement, and work commitment – on the relationship between managerial networking and organizational performance. Given the positive effects of job-related attitudes according to the existing literature, I argued that these three variables can strengthen the positive effect of managerial networking on performance. The study is conducted in the research context of Dutch primary education, investigating the networking behavior of school principals. Using a preexisting data set of 862 school principals, obtained through a survey sent to all primary schools in the Netherlands in 2013, I tested my hypotheses through multiple regression analysis. Results revealed that in this research context, only work commitment significantly strengthened the relationship between managerial networking and school performance. To obtain a more comprehensive picture of the exact working of the proposed effects in this study, I recommend that future research includes additional variables in the analysis, such as other performance indicators, and internal management, and performs longitudinal research.Show less
