Association between perceived overqualification, work engagement, job satisfaction among nurses: a cross-sectional study

Objectives This cross-sectional correlational study aimed to understand nurses' perceived overqualification and work engagement, explore their effects on job satisfaction and provide a theoretical basis for hospital management policies in a public comprehensive tertiary hospital in China. Design Cross-sectional correlational study. Setting The study was conducted in a public comprehensive tertiary hospital in China. The specific location is not disclosed. Participants 584 nurses participated in the study, with a completion rate of 97.3%. The average age of participants was 34.8 +/- 6.7 years, with 96.4% being women. 67.8% held a bachelor's degree or higher, and 71.6% had over 5 years of work experience. Primary and secondary outcome measures The Scale of Perceived Overqualification was used to assess nurses' perceptions of their qualifications, demonstrating a high level of reliability with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.832. Utrecht Work Engagement Scale was used to assess nurses' work engagement, showing internal consistency coefficients (Cronbach's alpha) of 0.683 for the vigour dimension, 0.693 for the dedication dimension and 0.834 for the absorption dimension. Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire was used to evaluate nurses' job satisfaction, with internal consistency coefficients (Cronbach's alpha) of 0.765 for the intrinsic satisfaction scale and 0.734 for the extrinsic satisfaction scale. The primary outcome measures included perceived overqualification, work engagement and job satisfaction. Results The average scores for perceived overqualification, work engagement and job satisfaction were 26.38 +/- 3.44, 65.36 +/- 14.92 and 74.29 +/- 15.04, respectively. Perceived overqualification showed negative correlations with work engagement (r=-0.562, p<0.05) and job satisfaction (r=-0.674, p<0.05). However, work engagement was positively correlated with job satisfaction (r=0.519, p<0.05). Path analysis indicated that perceived overqualification had both a direct (beta=-0.06, p<0.001) and an indirect effect (beta=-0.35, p=0.015) on job satisfaction, with work engagement partially mediating this relationship. Conclusion The perception of overqualification among nurses shows a significant correlation with both their work engagement and job satisfaction. This finding suggests that hospital administrators should pay attention to nurses' perceptions of their qualifications and take measures to enhance their job satisfaction. Furthermore, work engagement acts as a mediator between the perception of overqualification and job satisfaction, emphasising the importance of increasing work engagement. Overall, hospitals can improve nurses' work engagement and job satisfaction by providing career development opportunities, establishing feedback mechanisms and fostering work-life balance. Comprehensive management measures focusing on nurses' career development opportunities and levels of work engagement are necessary. Future research could expand the sample size, employ more diverse research designs and integrate qualitative research methods to further explore the factors influencing nurses' job satisfaction and happiness.