Work-Family Balance and Managing Spillover Effects Communicatively during COVID-19: Nurses' Perspectives

Linking Toxic Leadership With Work Satisfaction and Psychological Distress in Emergency Nurses: The Mediating Role of Work-Family Conflict

INTRODUCTION

Toxic leadership is a prevalent issue within health care organizations, including emergency departments. No studies have been found specifically examining these issues among emergency nurses. This study examined the mediating effects of work-family conflict on the relationship between toxic leadership behaviors of nurse managers and psychological distress and work satisfaction among emergency nurses.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was used to gather data from 285 Filipino emergency nurses, using 4 validated measures. Mediation analyses were conducted using the PROCESS Macro with Model 4.

RESULTS

Toxic leadership had a direct negative effect on work satisfaction (β = -0.3313, P < .001) and a direct positive effect on psychological distress (β = 0.0945, P = .0491). Work-family conflict partially mediated the relationship between toxic leadership and both psychological distress (β = 0.0217, SE = .0141, 95% CI = 0.0002-0.0538) and work satisfaction (β = -0.0438, SE = 0.0216, 95% CI = -0.0884 to -0.0049).

DISCUSSION

The study findings highlighted the negative influence of toxic leadership behaviors on the overall work satisfaction and psychological well-being of emergency nurses. In addition, this study identified work-family conflict as a mechanism that explained how the toxic leadership behaviors of nurse managers influenced the psychological well-being and job satisfaction of emergency nurses. The results of this study underscore the need for interventions and strategies to address toxic leadership and mitigate the negative consequences it poses to emergency nurses' well-being.

Perceived ambidextrous leadership and nurses' mental health: a work-family perspective

BACKGROUND

Nurses are particularly at risk from stress-related problems and face high mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is critical to pay attention to their mental health status and determine which factors are positively associated with nursing staff mental health from the perspective of work-family. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of perceived ambidextrous leadership on nurses' mental health mediated by work-to-family enrichment and moderated by work climate for sharing family concerns.

METHODS

One time-lagged study with three waves was conducted. A total of 358 questionnaires were distributed to registered nurses working at 10 hospitals in Guangzhou, China, and 265 valid questionnaires were returned. The quantitative approach to test hypotheses involves hierarchical regression analyses, the bootstrapping method and the simple slope test.

RESULTS

The research indicated that (a) perceived ambidextrous leadership had a positive influence on nurses' work-to-family enrichment; (b) nurses' work-to-family enrichment mediated the relationship between perceived ambidextrous leadership and nurses' mental health; (c) work climate for sharing family concerns moderated the relationship between perceived ambidextrous leadership and nurses' work-to-family enrichment.

CONCLUSION

Nursing supervisors' ambidextrous leadership interacted with work climate for sharing family concerns benefit the conservation of nurses' personal resources, which in turn facilitates nurses' work-to-family enrichment and improve their mental health.

I Am Not a 'Hero': U.S. Nurses' Identity Overlaps and Conflict During COVID-19

The current COVID-19 pandemic exemplifies a crisis that is redefining the meaning of communication for many. Metaphors like the "hero" trope are being used to represent our frontline employees, such as nurses who work directly with COVID-19 patients. However, we know very little about how these tropes influence the identities of these nurses and how it impacts their work. This article draws on social identity theory and key works related to role and identity conflict to look at nurses' perceptions of the hero trope being used to define them during this crisis. The study involved 23 semi-structured interviews with nurses from the United States who were working with COVID-19 patients. Nurses described how, due to COVID-19-especially in light of the hero trope - multiple identities became salient during the pandemic. Many of the identity overlaps were minimized during this time as the trope modified the meaning of how some norms around these different sub-identities were understood. This also highlights the role of communication in shaping and modifying group identity norms during crises, thus suggesting an integration of SIT with the constructivist or even some level of poststructural perspective. As a consequence of the pandemic and the minimized overlaps between the identities, nurses felt more self-doubt or failure, which impacted their overall psychological well-being as well as their efficacy at work. Nurses used communication strategies such as providing reminders, separating myth from reality, and directly approaching their managers, to cope with the identity conflicts.

The spillover effect of after-hours electronic communication on nurses' cyberloafing: the mediating role of psychological contract breach

BACKGROUND

Considerable research has investigated the influencing factors of cyberloafing in the workplace. However, few studies have focused on the antecedents in non-work fields, especially for nurses. According to the effort-reward imbalance theory, this study aims to explore the spillover effect of after-hours electronic communication on nurses' cyberloafing, and the mediating role of psychological contract breach.

METHODS

A total of 282 nurses completed the online survey. PROCESS macro for SPSS was used to test how after-hour electronic communication affect nurses' cyberloafing.

RESULTS

After-hours electronic communication has a significant positive impact on nurses' cyberloafing, and psychological contract breach plays a mediating role in the relationship.

CONCLUSION

Psychological contract breach was the linchpin linking after-hours electronic communication to nurses' cyberloafing in workplace. This study provides a guide for healthcare organizations to reduce or manage inappropriate telework arrangements and strengthen nurses' psychological contracts.

How Family-Supportive Leadership Communication Enhances the Creativity of Work-From-Home Employees during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Adapting to the remote working environment has been one of the most visible challenges for many organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. As employee creativity helps organizations' survival and resilience during times of crisis, this study aims to examine the role of leadership communication, family-supportive leadership communication in particular, in fostering creativity among work-from-home employees. The current study specifically focuses on the mediating processes in this relationship and the moderating role of employees' work-life segmentation preferences, using a survey of 449 employees who have worked from home during the COVID-19 outbreak. The results showed that employee-organization relationship (EOR) quality, positive affect, and work-life enrichment mediate the relationship between family-supportive leadership communication and employee creativity. The effects of family-supportive leadership communication on employees' positive affect and work-life enrichment were more prominent for those who prefer to segment their work and lives. This paper concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for leadership in organizational communication.

An Explanatory Model of Work-family Conflict and Resilience as Predictors of Job Satisfaction in Nurses: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement and Communication Skills

BACKGROUND

The Job Demands and Resources (JD-R) model is used to examine predictors of well-being, work engagement, and individual or organizational outcomes. According to the model, work engagement and communication skills play a mediating role between work-family conflict and resilience to job satisfaction in nurses.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted considering 431 Peruvian nurses of mean age (M = 40.31 years; SD = 10.94) ranging from 22 to 68 years working in public hospitals in the Lima region. Data were collected using a self-reported form of the Job Satisfaction Scale, communication skills, work engagement, work-family conflict, and resilience. The theoretical model was evaluated using structural equation modeling (SEM).

RESULTS

A theoretical model with adequate fit was obtained [χ²(2) = 6.0, P < .001, CFI = 0.995, RMSEA = 0.068, SRMR = 0.015]. Results indicated an inverse relationship between work-family conflict with communication skills (β = -.24, P < .001) and work engagement (β = -.10, P = .003). Likewise, resilience had an influence on communication skills (β = .55, P < .001) and work engagement (β = .33, P < .001). In addition, the model explains 71% of job satisfaction. Also, the results indicate the influence of work-family conflict and resilience through the mediating role of work engagement and work-family conflict on job satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS

The model confirmed that work engagement and communication skills are valid moderators to mitigate work-family conflict and strengthen resilience that favors job satisfaction in nurses.

“Everything Is Changing, but I Am Not Alone”: Nurses’ Perceptions of Social Support during COVID-19

COVID-19 has created numerous stressors for nurses, which have impacted their work, self-efficacy, and wellness. Social support helps manage stress and burnout. Through 24 semi-structured interviews, the current article explores the perspectives of nurses who worked with COVID-19 patients in the initial days of the pandemic in the United States. This study unpacks the types and sources of social support nurses sought during this time, especially as they faced significant burnout. Through thematic analysis, the current study found that these nurses interacted with the crisis situation to evaluate their social support needs and the plausibility of fulfilling these needs. They focused on the support that was available or at least perceived to be available and let go of certain needs that could not plausibly be addressed in that moment. Peer-to-peer support was critical during this process, and nurses avoided sharing concerns with their families as they enacted protective buffering. The findings also highlight the complex and dynamic nature of social support as nurses interact with their peers and evaluate the support they receive. Peers helped with haptic support like providing hugs to coworkers, and at times even became surrogates for coworkers’ family members as they participated in communal coping. Organizational support was critical for sharing information centrally with nurses and for organizational sustainability.