The mediating role of job stress between organisational silence and social loafing in nurses.

Background: Teamwork assumes that the healthcare system and patient care require the transpersonal care process between nurses, physicians and management, which is essential to healing. Hospital management has tried to improve charitable factors to deflect the silence among nurses and promote harmony among them. In addition, social loafing reduces harmony and teamwork, thus reducing patient and healthcare safety.

Aim: This study aimed to research the effect of organisational silence on social loafing as mediated by job stress among hospital nurses.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 328 nurses from a university health, practice and research hospital in Turkey. Structured questionnaires measured perceptions of organisational silence, social loafing and job stress. Path and regression analyses assessed relationships and mediation effects among the variables.

Results: The study validated a model that links organisational silence, social loafing and job stress, demonstrating significant direct and indirect effects. It found that job stress is a mediator between organisational silence and social loafing, supporting the proposed hypotheses.

Impact: To improve patient care safety, it's important to reduce social loafing and address any defensive silence among nurses. This can be achieved through teamwork and support from hospital management and professionals.Only hospital nurses were involved in this study.