The Spanish version of the Emotional Labour Scale (ELS): a validation study

The Effect of Emotional Labor on Presenteeism of Chinese Nurses in Tertiary-Level Hospitals: The Mediating Role of Job Burnout

Background: Employees who are physically present but work insufficiently because of illness are deemed as having presenteeism. In the health care setting, the issue has taken on greater importance because of the impairment of the physical and mental health of nurses and the nursing safety of the patients. According to the Job Demand-Resource Model, burnout may link emotional labor with presenteeism. Thus, this study analyzed the role of burnout as a mediating factor between the three types of emotional labor strategies and presenteeism among nurses in tertiary-level hospitals. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 1,038 nurses from six Chinese hospitals was conducted. The questionnaires, including the 14-item emotional labor strategies scale, 22-item Maslach Burnout Inventory scale, 6-item Stanford Presenteeism Scale, and items about demographic characteristics and work-related factors, were used to collect data. A multivariable linear regression was used to predict work-related factors and investigate the correlation of emotional labor, burnout, and presenteeism. The structural equation model was implemented to test the mediating effects of job burnout. Results: The results of the study showed that the average presenteeism score of the participants was 14.18 (4.33), which is higher than in Spanish, Portuguese, and Brazilian nurses. Presenteeism was explained by 22.8% of the variance in the final model in multivariable linear regression (P < 0.01). Presenteeism was found to be positively correlated with surface acting, emotionally expressed demands, deep acting, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment (P < 0.01). Notably, presenteeism was negatively correlated with deep acting (P < 0.01). In addition, burnout partially mediated the correlation between emotionally expressed demands, deep acting, and presenteeism with a mediatory effect of 24 and 63.31% of the total effect. Burnout completely mediated the association between surface acting and presenteeism, a mediating effect of 86.44% of the total effect. Conclusions: The results of this study suggested that different emotional labor strategies affect presenteeism, either directly or indirectly. Nursing managers should intervene to reduce presenteeism by improving the ability of the nurses to manage emotions, thereby alleviating burnout.

What is nursing work? A meta-narrative review and integrated framework

BACKGROUND

There is ample evidence that modern nurses are under strain and that interventions to support the nursing workforce have not recognised the complexity inherent in nursing work. Creating a modern model of nursing work may assist nurses in developing workable solutions to professional problems. A new model may also foster cohesion among broad and diverse nursing roles.

AIM

The aim of this meta-narrative review was to investigate how researchers, using different methods and theoretical approaches, have contributed to the understanding of nursing work.

METHODS

A meta-narrative review was done to evaluate the trajectory of nursing work research, from 1953 to present. This review progressed through the stages of planning, searching, mapping, appraisal, and synthesis.

FINDINGS

A total of 121 articles were included in this meta-narrative review. These articles revealed five narratives of nursing work, where work is conceptualised as labour. These narratives were physical labour (n = 14), emotional (n = 53), cognitive (n = 24), and organisational (n = 1), and combinations of more than one type of labour (n = 29 articles). The paradigms identified in the meta-narrative were the positivist, interpretive, critical, and evidence-based paradigms. Each article in the review corresponded with a paradigm and a labour narrative, creating a comprehensive model.

CONCLUSIONS

Nursing work can be understood as a model of physical, emotional, cognitive, and organisational labour. These different types of labour may be hidden and taken for granted. Nurses can use this model to articulate what they do and how it supports patient safety. Nurses can also advocate for staffing allocations that consider all types of nursing labour. Tweetable abstract Nursing work is complex and includes physical, emotional, cognitive, and organisational labour. Staffing needs to take all nursing labour into account.

Emotional Labor Strategies, Stress, and Burnout Among Hospital Nurses: A Path Analysis

PURPOSE

This study aimed to examine the associations among emotional labor strategies, stress from emotional labor, and burnout in nurses.

DESIGN

We employed a descriptive cross-sectional design. Data were collected from May to November 2018 in South Korea using structured questionnaires. Participants were 303 nurses from 27 hospitals, who were recruited by convenience sampling.

METHODS

Emotional labor strategies (surface acting, deep acting, and expression of naturally felt emotions), stress, and burnout were self-reported. A path analysis using structural equation modeling was performed to examine the associations among the study variables.

FINDINGS

Bivariate analyses revealed that surface acting was positively correlated with stress and burnout, deep acting was negatively correlated with burnout, and naturally felt emotions were negatively correlated with stress and burnout. The path analysis revealed that surface acting was positively associated with stress, naturally felt emotions were negatively associated with burnout, and the stress from emotional labor was positively associated with burnout. Although surface acting was not directly associated with burnout, it was indirectly associated through stress.

CONCLUSIONS

Surface acting involves regulation and suppression of one's felt emotions. The findings of this study suggest that hospitals need to reduce expectations for surface acting to reduce nurses' stress and burnout. Organizational efforts to provide interventions that improve nurses' ability to manage their emotions in interactions with patients might effectively foster nurses' well-being.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Surface acting might contribute to nurses' burnout, and naturally felt emotions might reduce nurses' burnout. Nurse managers should thus provide opportunities to discuss the utilized emotional labor strategies and encourage appropriate responses depending on the patient context. Programs that promote emotional competence may reduce the adverse effects associated with nurses' emotional labor and foster effective coping strategies.

Escala de trabalho emocional: adaptação e evidências de validade

Resumo Trabalho emocional é um processo de gerenciamento da expressão das emoções e dos sentimentos internos, com base nas demandas emocionais exigidas pela ocupação ou contexto de trabalho. O estudo adaptou a Escala de Trabalho Emocional desenvolvida por Brotheridge e Lee à categoria de artistas brasileiros (Estudo 1), bem como buscou evidências de validade (Estudo 2). Participaram da pesquisa 521 artistas, a maioria músicos e atores de teatro, com idade média de 39 anos. Foram seguidos procedimentos metodológicos para adaptação e aplicação da medida. Para a análise de dados, a amostra foi subdividida em duas, destinando-se a Amostra 1 à análise fatorial exploratória, e a Amostra 2 à análise fatorial confirmatória. Apesar de ter havido perda de itens, os resultados trouxeram evidência confirmatória do modelo tripartite de trabalho emocional: demandas emocionais de trabalho, estratégias de ação superficial e estratégias de ação profunda. Sugere-se que a medida possa ser usada para outras ocupações.

Validity of the Spanish version of the Emotional Labour Scale

In this article we address concerns raised by Brumit and Glenn (2013) regarding the validity of the Spanish version of the Emotional Labour Scale (ELS). We respond to requests in relation to the translated version of the scale and the eigenvalue series. We also give an explanation of the differences in results between the original version and the Spanish version of the scale.