How changes in job demands and job resources Predict work engagement and job Performance among nurses in the public Healthcare sector of the united arab Emirates: the moderator role of overall Justice

Abstract

Nurses who are more engaged in their work and have the right job characteristics and positive organizational factors, are expected to perform better. This research uses the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model as a theoretical lens, explored the job characteristics and organizational factors that affect work engagement and job performance of nurses in the public healthcare sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with the aim of improving erformance in that sector. Nurses (N = 2,369) working in the public healthcare sector in the UAE were asked to provide their perceptions on work engagement and its antecedents, their performance,and how they perceive justice in their workplace. Regardless of job demands, nurses’ job performance remained unaffected by demographic factors, which was a striking finding: nurses provide quality services and manage to accomplish their tasks, at any level of demand. Also, the research proved the role of work engagement as a mediator variable. Plus, justice acted as a moderator of the relationship between job resources and work engagement, which was a new addition to literature. Nurses with low overall perceptions of justice had stronger links between job resources and work engagement. Even if the level of justice was perceived as low, work engagement remained unaffected. The originality of this research is pinpointed as work engagement is a critical issue, but it has received little attention, mainly on its relationship with performance as an outcome variable. This paper has therefore enriched literature, and it is significant for both the context and sector. Kewyords Job Demands-Resources Model, MOHAP Ministry of Health and Prevention, SEHA Abu Dhabi Healthcare Company, JD Job Demands, WL Workload