Technostress among nurses: boon or bane? The moderated mediation model.

backgroundToday, increasing digitalization and intensified human-computer interaction in healthcare services have significantly changed nurses’ daily work processes. This situation has caused the emergence of a type of stress called technostress among nurses. The negative outcomes of technostress, generally referred to as its dark side, have been frequently emphasized in the literature. On the other hand, studies on the bright side of technostress, that is, its positive outcomes, are quite limited. Based on the job demands-resources model, this study assumes that technostress creators may have negative and positive outcomes.

aimIn this context, this study aims to examine the indirect effects of technostress creators on job satisfaction through techno-eustress, on burnout through techno-distress, and how these indirect effects change depending on technical support and technology competence.

methodsThis study adopted a quantitative, correlational design and was conducted using a cross-sectional survey. Data were collected at a single time point from a convenience sample of nurses working in one hospital. The proposed research model was empirically tested using path analysis.

resultsFindings show that technostress creators increase burnout through techno-distress and job satisfaction through techno-eustress. It also shows that these indirect effects vary depending on the technology competence levels of nurses, and as the technology competence level increases, the indirect effects weaken.

conclusionIn conclusion, the research findings revealed that, unlike other studies in the literature, technostress creators cannot be described as just a boon or a bane but can produce positive or negative outcomes through various mechanisms.