Aim: Using dominance analysis, this study aimed to investigate the relative importance of specific job demands and job resources for burnout and work engagement among 4,951 direct care nurses from 64 general acute care hospitals in Belgium (13), Germany (20), Ireland (15), Norway (1), Sweden (4), and England (11).

Results: In line with the Job Demands-Resources model, job demands contributed to burnout (β = 0.681, p < 0.001), while job resources were positively linked to work engagement (β = 0.614, p < 0.001) and negatively associated with burnout (β = – 0.258, p < 0.001). These relationships were consistent across countries. Dominance analyses further revealed that skill utilization was the strongest predictor of work engagement, explaining between 27.4% and 41.9% of the variance, while emotional dissonance (%R² = 17.0%-23.8%) and emotional demands (%R² = 17.3%-20.8%) were the strongest predictors of burnout. Overall, these findings were also consistent across countries.

Conclusions: This study adds to existing research on Job Demands-Resources model by uncovering the relative importance of specific job demands and resources for burnout and work engagement among European nurses (download full paper).