The influence of operating room nurses' job stress on burnout and organizational commitment: The moderating effect of over-commitment

Aims To determine job stress among Chinese operating room nurses, test the mediating effect of burnout and verify the moderating effect of over-commitment between job stress and mental health. Design A descriptive, cross-sectional study. Methods A multistage sampling method was adopted. First, a random sampling method was used to select 30 tertiary hospitals in Beijing, after which 509 operating room nurses were selected by convenience sampling from March-June 2017. Self-administered questionnaires were used to evaluate job stress, burnout, and organizational commitment among participants. Multiple-group path analysis was used to test the mediating effect and the moderating effect. Results Of all nurses, 70.3% were in a state of job stress, which had negative effects on organizational commitment mediated by emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. The result of multiple-group path analysis showed that the path coefficients are different between the low and high groups of over-commitment. When facing job stress, operating room nurses with low over-commitment were more likely to have emotional exhaustion (beta = 0.750 vs. 0.602), while those with high over-commitment were more likely to have low organizational commitment (beta = -0.641 vs. -0.594). Conclusion The job stress of operating room nurses in China was high. Burnout played a mediating role between job stress and organizational commitment. Over-commitment played a moderating role in the relationship among job stress, burnout, and organizational commitment. Impact This study analysed the relationship among operating room nurses' job stress, burnout, and organizational commitment. The findings provided confirmatory support on the mediated effect of burnout between job stress and organizational commitment and the moderation effect of over-commitment. Different measures are needed to reduce job stress, as for easing burnout and improving organizational commitment among different groups of nurses.

Automated summary

The study investigated job stress among Chinese operating room nurses, with burnout playing a mediating role and over-commitment acting as a moderator between job stress and mental health. The findings suggested that different strategies are needed to reduce job stress, address burnout, and enhance organizational commitment among operating room nurses.