Organizational Support and Work Engagement in General Intensive Care Unit Nurses: The Double‐Edged Sword Effect of Emotional Labor

TL;DR

This study explores how organizational support affects work engagement in ICU nurses through different emotional labor strategies, finding that some strategies can be harmful.

Contribution

The study reveals the dual impact of emotional labor strategies on work engagement in GICU nurses.

Findings

Surface acting negatively correlates with organizational support and work engagement.

Deep acting and natural acting positively correlate with work engagement.

Organizational support significantly mediates work engagement through emotional labor strategies.

Abstract

Organizational support significantly influences nurses’ work engagement, but how it affects the engagement of general intensive care unit (GICU) nurses through distinct emotional labor strategies remains unclear. This study aims to find how emotional labor influences the effect of organizational support on work engagement in GICU nurses.

This cross‐sectional survey was conducted from June to July 2024, involving 215 GICU nurses from five tertiary hospitals in Northeast China. Data were collected using demographic variable forms, emotional labor scales, nurse organizational support scales, and work engagement scales, and a structural equation model was established to analyze the relationships among emotional labor, organizational support, and work engagement in GICU nurses.

Surface acting was negatively correlated with organizational support and work engagement, while deep acting, natural acting, and organizational support were positively correlated with work engagement (p < 0.05). The mediating effects of organizational support on work engagement were statistically significant through surface acting (β = 0.099, 95% CI [0.004, 0.219]) and through the combined pathways of deep and natural acting (β = 0.211, 95% CI [0.054, 0.539]).

Emotional labor exhibits a double‐edged sword effect in GICU nurses. Nursing managers can enhance nurses’ work engagement by implementing relevant organizational support measures to reduce surface acting while promoting deep acting and natural acting.

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