Empathy-Driven Humanization: Employment Instability, Burnout, and Work Engagement Among Temporary Nurses in a Sustainable Workforce Model
<b>Background/Objectives:</b> Employment instability is increasingly recognized as an organizational stressor, yet its combined effect on nurse burnout, humanized care, and work engagement is poorly quantified. This study investigates those relationships and tests a serial mediation mode...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Nursing Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2039-4403/15/7/223 |
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| author | Sonia Prieto-de Benito Carlos Ruíz-Núñez Juan Pablo Hervás-Pérez Cayetana Ruíz-Zaldibar Fidel López-Espuela Raquel Caballero de la Calle Ivan Herrera-Peco |
| author_facet | Sonia Prieto-de Benito Carlos Ruíz-Núñez Juan Pablo Hervás-Pérez Cayetana Ruíz-Zaldibar Fidel López-Espuela Raquel Caballero de la Calle Ivan Herrera-Peco |
| author_sort | Sonia Prieto-de Benito |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <b>Background/Objectives:</b> Employment instability is increasingly recognized as an organizational stressor, yet its combined effect on nurse burnout, humanized care, and work engagement is poorly quantified. This study investigates those relationships and tests a serial mediation model linking contract instability, burnout, humanization, and engagement in Spanish hospital nurses. <b>Methods:</b> A nationwide cross-sectional survey was completed by 400 fixed-term nurses between March and May 2025. The data included demographics, number of contracts signed during 2024, and scores on the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), and Health Professionals’ Humanization Scale (HUMAS). Spearman coefficients described the bivariate relations. <b>Results:</b> Burnout correlated positively with both contract count (r = 0.42, <i>p</i> = 0.039) and years of experience (r = 0.74, <i>p</i> = 0.040). Work engagement was inversely associated with instability (r = –0.62, <i>p</i> = 0.018). Humanized care was strongly and negatively related to burnout (r = –0.61, <i>p</i> = 0.032), particularly in sociability and self-efficacy dimensions. <b>Discussion:</b> Contractual precarity elevates burnout, erodes perceptions of humanized care, and, through this erosion, suppresses nurse engagement. Stabilizing workforce arrangements and strengthening empathy-centered skills may mitigate these effects and foster a socially sustainable nursing workforce. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1bf410d08edd4b4d93691d04b5b4ee2a |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2039-439X 2039-4403 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nursing Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-1bf410d08edd4b4d93691d04b5b4ee2a2025-08-20T03:07:55ZengMDPI AGNursing Reports2039-439X2039-44032025-06-0115722310.3390/nursrep15070223Empathy-Driven Humanization: Employment Instability, Burnout, and Work Engagement Among Temporary Nurses in a Sustainable Workforce ModelSonia Prieto-de Benito0Carlos Ruíz-Núñez1Juan Pablo Hervás-Pérez2Cayetana Ruíz-Zaldibar3Fidel López-Espuela4Raquel Caballero de la Calle5Ivan Herrera-Peco6Hospital Clínico Universitrio de Valladolid, Av. Ramón y Cajal, 3, 47003 Valladolid, SpainCentro de Emergencias Sanitarias 061, Unidad de Innovación, 29590 Málaga, SpainFaculty of Health Sciences-HM Hospitals, University Camilo José Cela, Urb. Villafranca del Castillo, 49, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, SpainFaculty of Health Sciences-HM Hospitals, University Camilo José Cela, Urb. Villafranca del Castillo, 49, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, SpainMetabolic Bone Diseases Research Group, Nursing Department, Nursing and Occupational Therapy College, University of Extremadura, 10003 Cceres, SpainNurse-In Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28691 Madrid, SpainFaculty of Health Sciences-HM Hospitals, University Camilo José Cela, Urb. Villafranca del Castillo, 49, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain<b>Background/Objectives:</b> Employment instability is increasingly recognized as an organizational stressor, yet its combined effect on nurse burnout, humanized care, and work engagement is poorly quantified. This study investigates those relationships and tests a serial mediation model linking contract instability, burnout, humanization, and engagement in Spanish hospital nurses. <b>Methods:</b> A nationwide cross-sectional survey was completed by 400 fixed-term nurses between March and May 2025. The data included demographics, number of contracts signed during 2024, and scores on the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), and Health Professionals’ Humanization Scale (HUMAS). Spearman coefficients described the bivariate relations. <b>Results:</b> Burnout correlated positively with both contract count (r = 0.42, <i>p</i> = 0.039) and years of experience (r = 0.74, <i>p</i> = 0.040). Work engagement was inversely associated with instability (r = –0.62, <i>p</i> = 0.018). Humanized care was strongly and negatively related to burnout (r = –0.61, <i>p</i> = 0.032), particularly in sociability and self-efficacy dimensions. <b>Discussion:</b> Contractual precarity elevates burnout, erodes perceptions of humanized care, and, through this erosion, suppresses nurse engagement. Stabilizing workforce arrangements and strengthening empathy-centered skills may mitigate these effects and foster a socially sustainable nursing workforce.https://www.mdpi.com/2039-4403/15/7/223burnoutempathyhumanization of careengagementnursesemployment instability |
| spellingShingle | Sonia Prieto-de Benito Carlos Ruíz-Núñez Juan Pablo Hervás-Pérez Cayetana Ruíz-Zaldibar Fidel López-Espuela Raquel Caballero de la Calle Ivan Herrera-Peco Empathy-Driven Humanization: Employment Instability, Burnout, and Work Engagement Among Temporary Nurses in a Sustainable Workforce Model Nursing Reports burnout empathy humanization of care engagement nurses employment instability |
| title | Empathy-Driven Humanization: Employment Instability, Burnout, and Work Engagement Among Temporary Nurses in a Sustainable Workforce Model |
| title_full | Empathy-Driven Humanization: Employment Instability, Burnout, and Work Engagement Among Temporary Nurses in a Sustainable Workforce Model |
| title_fullStr | Empathy-Driven Humanization: Employment Instability, Burnout, and Work Engagement Among Temporary Nurses in a Sustainable Workforce Model |
| title_full_unstemmed | Empathy-Driven Humanization: Employment Instability, Burnout, and Work Engagement Among Temporary Nurses in a Sustainable Workforce Model |
| title_short | Empathy-Driven Humanization: Employment Instability, Burnout, and Work Engagement Among Temporary Nurses in a Sustainable Workforce Model |
| title_sort | empathy driven humanization employment instability burnout and work engagement among temporary nurses in a sustainable workforce model |
| topic | burnout empathy humanization of care engagement nurses employment instability |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2039-4403/15/7/223 |
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