Factors Relating to Work Engagement of The Hospital Nurses: Model Testing Based on the Job Demands Resources Model

Background Globally, there is an ongoing shortage of nurses, hindering many countries from achieving their healthcare goals. In response to this issue, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare introduced the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Model in 2019. Although this model has been validated by several researchers, it’s applicability to hospital nurses in Japan has not yet been established. The aim of this study was to test the model fit of the JD-R Model with nurses working in Japanese hospitals. Method The study adopted a cross-sectional, model-testing design using a self-administered questionnaire survey. A total of 3,000 nurses from 48 hospitals were recruited through stratified random sampling. Of the distributed questionnaires, 707 were returned. After excluding responses with more than 10 missing items, 624 valid responses were analyzed using structural equation Modeling. Results The fit indices of the original JD-R Model indicated an acceptable model fit ( χ² = 116.34, RMSEA = .21, AIC = 162.34, and CFI = .91). The model was subsequently modified for hospital nurses based on the results of the Lagrange Multiplier (LM) test, resulting in improved fit indices (χ² = 12.22, RMSEA = .057, AIC = 58.22, CFI = .99). Discussion The modified JD-R Model demonstrated a good fit and proved applicable to hospital nurses. Notably, the model revealed a positive causal relationship between work engagement and health problems, suggesting that excessive engagement may contribute to adverse health outcomes among hospital nurses.