Relationship between social support from supervisors, workload, autonomy, and work engagement among Norwegian nurses

Abstract

Background: There is a lack of nurses in the active working force worldwide because of a high turnover. The aim of the present study was to examine the longitudinal relationship between workload, social support from supervisors, job autonomy and work engagement. Methods: Based on a longitudinal study, data were collected via a self-reported survey among different occupations from 2003 to 2005. In this study, only nurses’ responses were used (n=1000). Structural equation modeling was used to test the longitudinal association, both regular and reversed, between the variables. Findings: There was a reciprocal negative association between workload and work engagement. Social support had a reciprocal positive significant association to the dedication component. Autonomy vas not significantly related to work engagement. Discussion: The present study suggests that nurses’ work engagement is related to features in the working environment. The findings emphasize the need to ease the workload since a heavy workload appears to reduce their level of engagement. The findings also suggest that in order to create work engagement, there is a need to focus on social support from supervisors.