Impact of Nursing Students' Emotional Labor on Burnout during Nursing Practice in a Hospital: Moderating Effect of Emotional Intelligence / 간호행정학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study was done to: (a) identify levels of emotional labor that nursing students perceived when caring for patients in the hospital during their nursing practicum, (b) examine the impact of emotional labor on burnout, and (c) identify the possible moderating effect of emotional intelligence on the relationship between emotional labor and burnout for nursing students. METHODS: A descriptive study was conducted with a sample of 171 students enrolled in a 4-year undergraduate nursing program in one university located in Korea, and had a practicum experience at least one semester before the study began. Data were collected with self-report questionnaire, and analyzed with SPSS 21.0 program, using hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS: Mean score for emotional labor was 3.17 with a range of 1 to 5. For nursing students, emotional labor significantly affected burnout in the nursing practicum (F=15.763, p<.001), and explained 30.1% of the variance in burnout. The degree of emotional intelligence acted as a moderator on the relationship between emotional labor and burnout at significant level (F=15.345, p<.001). CONCLUSION: This research shows that nurse managers as well as nurse educators need to pay attention to nursing students' emotional labor during nursing practicum in the care units of hospitals.