Work engagement and job performance among nurses in the public healthcare sector in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Purpose Nurses who are more engaged in their work, and have the right job characteristics and positive organizational factors, are expected to perform better. The purpose of this study is to improve the performance in the healthcare sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), thus this study explored the job characteristics and organizational factors that affect work engagement and job performance of nurses. Design/methodology/approach 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. Findings 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. Justice acted as a moderator of the relationship between job resources and work engagement, which was a new addition to the 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. Originality/value Work engagement is a critical issue, but has received little attention, with most focusing on its relationship with performance as the outcome variable. This paper has therefore enriched the literature and is significant in both country and sector.