Mediating Effect of Emotional Labour on the Role Pressure and Silence Behaviour of Nurses

This study investigates the mediating effect of emotional labour on role stress and silence behaviour among nurses in a women–children special hospital to provide theoretical support and practical guidance for nursing management. A cross-sectional design was used. Data were collected from a grade-A tertiary women–children special hospital used convenience sampling. A path analysis of the relationships among emotional labour, role stress and silence behaviour was conducted using structural equation modelling (SEM).Statistical analysis of data and construction of SEM were conducted using the General Information Questionnaire, Role Stressors Scale, Emotional Labour Scale and Silence Behaviour Scale as survey tools along with SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 24.0 software. A total of 1,145 valid questionnaires were recovered, with an effective recovery rate of 98.5%. The respondents’ scores for role stress, emotional labour and silence behaviour were 35.49 ± 4.47, 40.67 ± 5.49 and 10.14 ± 3.79, respectively. Pearson’s correlation analysis revealed a positive correlation between emotional labour and role stress and silence behaviour. The SEM analysis showed that emotional labour was a mediator for role stress. Emotional labour functions as a mediator between role stress and silence behaviour among nurses in the women–children special hospital. As such, nursing managers must take nurses’ emotional management skills seriously to reduce their role stress.