Nurses’ Job Insecurity and Emotional Exhaustion: The Mediating Effect of Presenteeism and the Moderating Effect of Supervisor Support

Presenteeism refers to attending work when one is ill, which not only leads to a decline in the physical and mental health of employees but also negatively impacts organizational productivity and increases an organization’s extra costs. Therefore, to explore the antecedents and outcomes of nurses’ presenteeism behavior and the acting mechanism among the variables, a sample of 330 nurses from China were investigated with the Sickness Presenteeism Questionnaire, Job Insecurity Scale, Perceived Supervisor Support Scale, and Emotional Exhaustion Scale. The results indicated that (1) job insecurity had a significantly predictive effect on nurses’ presenteeism behavior; (2) nurses’ presenteeism partially mediated the relationship between job insecurity and emotional exhaustion; and (3) supervisor support moderated the relationship between nurses’ presenteeism behavior and emotional exhaustion; i.e., the higher the level of supervisor support, the weaker the positive relationship between nurses’ presenteeism behavior and emotional exhaustion. The findings provide theoretical guidance and an empirical basis for prevention and intervention strategies concerning nurses’ presenteeism behavior.