Interpersonal competence as a moderator in the relation between occupational stress and organizational adaptation among nurses: A cross-sectional study

Purpose This study examined the relationship between occupational stress and organizational adaptation among nurses and analyzed the moderating effects of interpersonal competence on this association. Background In the rapidly changing medical industry, nurses must adapt to their healthcare organizations and competently provide care. Higher levels of stress in nurses, which have been reported recently, can decrease their organizational adaption levels. This highlights the need for more research examining ways to address the impacts of nurses' occupational stress on organizational adaptation. Since interpersonal competence has been shown to mitigate the negative consequences of job stress, we hypothesized that improved interpersonal competence would moderate the relationship between occupational stress and organizational adaptation. Design and methods We employed a cross-sectional study design using online survey data from 500 nurses in Korea, recruiting participants through a recruitment advertisement on a mobile application widely used by nurses. We used descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression to conduct our data analysis, testing eight models to fit occupational stress (7 subdomains and overall), interpersonal competence, organizational adaptation, and the interaction term (stress*interpersonal competence) while controlling for demographic variables. Results Of the 500 sampled nurses, most were female with a mean age of 27 and four years of nursing work experience. All models tested were significant, explaining 52–61 % of the variance in organizational adaptation. As hypothesized, our analysis revealed negative relationships between occupational stress (overall and subdomain scores) and organizational adaptation. Nurses' interpersonal competence had significant moderating effects on the negative relationships between all subdomains of occupational stress and organizational adaptation, except job insecurity and interpersonal conflict. Conclusions To raise nurses' organizational adaptation levels, stakeholders should address occupational stressors. Cultivating interpersonal competence will alleviate the negative impacts of stress in nurses. Stakeholders should acknowledge the importance of interpersonal competence for nurses and prioritize providing continuing education in schools and hospitals to foster interpersonal competence.