Association of goal orientation with work engagement and burnout in emergency nurses

• Published in: Journal of occupational health 2015-03, Vol.57 (2), p.151-160
• Main Authors: Adriaenssens, Jef, Gucht, Veronique De, Maes, Stan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Burnout; Burnout, Professional - etiology; Emergencies; Emergency nurses; Emergency Nursing; Female; Fuel consumption; Goal orientation; Goals; Hospitals; Humans; Job Satisfaction; Logistic Models; Male; Mathematical models; Middle Aged; Nurses; Nursing Staff, Hospital - psychology; Occupational health; Orientation; Questionnaires; Self Report; Social Support; Surveys; Variance; Work engagement; Workload - psychology
• ISSN: 1348-9585; 1341-9145; 1348-9585
• DOI: 10.1539/joh.14-0069-OA

Association of goal orientation with work engagement and burnout in emergency nurses: Jef Adriaenssens, et al. Leiden University, Institute of Psychology, Health Psychology Unit, The Netherlands Objective Goal orientation is a mindset towards the achievement of work‐related goals, and it has been found to be related to occupational well‐being. This study explored to what extent the 4‐dimensional model of goal orientation adds additional variance to the explanation of burnout and work engagement in emergency nurses, after controlling for demographics, job characteristics and organizational variables. Methods Self‐report questionnaires including the Leiden Quality of Work Questionnaire for Nurses, Goal Orientation Questionnaire, Maslach Burnout Inventory and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale were completed by 170 out of 274 emergency nurses from 13 secondary Belgian hospitals (response rate 62%). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted. Results Goal orientation explained 14 and 13% of the variance in burnout and work engagement respectively. Job control was predictive of both outcomes. Job demands was a predictor of burnout, and social support predicted work engagement. Reward was related to work engagement. The mastery‐approach goal orientation was strongly related to an increase in work engagement and to a decrease in burnout. The performance‐avoidance goal orientation was strongly related to a decrease in work engagement and to an increase in burnout. The performance‐approach and mastery‐avoidance goal orientations were not predictive for the two outcome variables. Conclusions Goal orientation explains additional variance in burnout and work engagement over and above work characteristics and organizational variables. A mastery‐approach goal orientation appears to be beneficial while a performance‐avoidance goal orientation is not. Hospital management should therefore invest in personal involvement and growth of ER‐nurses and in a rewarding organizational culture.