Meaningful work, pleasure in working, and the moderating effects of deep acting and COVID‐19 on nurses' work

AIMS: This study aims to verify the association between nurses' perception of the meaningfulness of their work and their pleasure in working, and whether this relationship may change based on the level of deep acting performed to cope with emotional regulation demands and the influence of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the healthcare work. METHODS: Nurses from both private and public Italian institutions (N = 239) completed an online questionnaire between June 2021 and January 2022. A moderated moderation model was tested through SPSS Process macro. The design is cross‐sectional. RESULTS: The results show that the perception of meaningfulness of work is positively associated with pleasure in working, especially in conditions of high deep acting. This relationship is further moderated by the COVID‐19 influence so that the association between meaningful work and pleasure in working is stronger in conditions of high COVID‐19 influence and at higher levels of deep acting performed. CONCLUSION: Perceiving one's work as meaningful can be a job resource that protects nurses from the negative effects of emotional regulation demands and even from the stress of dealing with COVID‐19. IMPACT: The study addresses the problem of nurses' emotional regulation demands at work and evaluates the protective role of meaningful work. The findings could be useful for planning prevention interventions (through training in adaptive emotional regulation strategies) or protection interventions (through the promotion of effective coping strategies and the stimulation of one's work engagement).