Factors correlating work engagement among Palestinian emergency nurses during Gaza war in the West Bank

Abstract

Purpose Work engagement among emergency nurses is a critical issue that adversely affects the quality of patient care and productivity. Psychological reactions (e.g., stress, anxiety, and depression) and resilience correlated with work engagement. This study addresses the gap in understanding the factors correlating work engagement among. emergency nurses in the West Bank during the Gaza War. Methods A descriptive correlational design was used. The data were collected from 378 emergency nurses from governmental and private hospitals in the West Bank using a self-reported questionnaire from December 2023 to February 2024. Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) were used to assess the study variables. Results The findings demonstrated that 71.7 %, 52.9 %, 42.5 %, 55.6 %, and 40.0 % of the emergency nurses reported severe to extremely severe stress, moderate to extremely severe levels of anxiety, severe to extremely severe levels of depression, low resilience, and low to extremely low levels of job engagement, respectively. A positive relationship existed between work engagement and age (r = 0.407, p < 0.01), years of experience (r = 0.385, p < 0.01), and resilience (r = 0.419, p < 0.01). While, work engagement negatively correlated with stress (r = -0.486, p < 0.01), anxiety (r = -0.616, p < 0.01), and depression (r = -0.632, p < 0.01). Conclusions The findings indicated that policymakers and healthcare professionals should promote initiatives that enhance nurses’ resilience and mitigate psychological responses to improve work engagement. Therapeutic programs should consider the situational variations of Palestinian society, encompassing resilience, coping mechanisms, and psychological management approaches.