The Mediating Role of Job Stress Between Organizational Climate and Work Alienation Among Nurses in Emergency Departments: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Nurses suffer a certain degree of work alienation (a psychological state in which employees feel separated from their jobs because the jobs do not meet the needs of employees or do not match their expectations). It is necessary to identify predictors of work alienation and find effective interventions. Objective: To explore the influence of organizational climate and job stress on work alienation among nurses in emergency departments. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted from June to August 2022. A convenience sampling method was adopted to invite 342 nurses from emergency departments in 12 tertiary public hospitals in 4 cities in China. Data were collected using self-reported questionnaires on organizational climate, job stress, and work alienation. Path analysis implemented by IBM AMOS 21.0 was used to explore the associations among organizational climate, job stress, and work alienation. Results: Job stress can positively affect work alienation among nurses in emergency departments (beta = 0.44, P < .01). Organizational climate can directly and negatively affect work alienation (beta = -0.33, P < .01); it can also negatively and indirectly affect work alienation through job stress (beta = -0.20, 95% confidence interval: -0.252 to -0.146). Conclusions: Job stress partially mediated the effect of organizational climate on work alienation among nurses in emergency departments. The findings provided a valuable perspective on predictors of work alienation among emergency department nurses.