Antecedent and Consequence of Nurse Engagement

Abstract

This study explores the mediating effect of work engagement on the relationship between transformational leadership (TFL) and nurses’ job performance, along with the moderating effect of conscientiousness on work engagement within the TFL/performance relationship. Survey data were collected from 234 supervisor–subordinate dyads at a regional hospital in Taiwan, and linear regression modeling performed to examine the hypotheses. TFL was found to be positively correlated with nurses’ job performance; and the motivation mechanism of work engagement did mediate the relationship between TFL and job performance, but only when nurses’ conscientiousness was high. As such, the results provide new insights into both how, and why, TFL can enhance nurses’ job performance: specifically, that their work engagement and conscientiousness are key determinants of how the TFL/job performance relationship operates.

Keywords:

• Transformational leadership
• work engagement
• conscientiousness
• job performance
• nursing

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jui-Chen Peng

Jui-Chen Peng, PhD, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, is an associate professor of management in the Economics & Management college at ZhaoQing University in Guangdong. He has published in many journals covering the fields of managerial psychology, leadership style and human resource management. His articles have appeared in various international journals of managerial psychology, HRM and organizational behavior.

Mei-Man Tseng

Mei-Man Tseng, EMBA, Fo Guang University, is a Pathology Department Leader at Lo-Hsu Foundation, Inc., Lotung Poh-Ai Hospital.