Organizational Dehumanization, Perceived Stress, and Patient Depersonalization in French Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Test of the Spillover Model.

objectiveTo examine the association between organizational dehumanization (OD) and nursing staff's perceived stress and to test whether perceived stress statistically mediates the relationship between OD and patient depersonalization, as proposed by the spillover model.

designCross-sectional online survey. METHODOLOGY: A total of 291 registered nurses in France completed an online questionnaire measuring OD, perceived stress, and depersonalization. Mediation analysis with bias-corrected bootstrapping was used to examine the hypothesized pathway linking OD to patient depersonalization through perceived stress.

resultsOD is significantly associated with perceived stress. Perceived stress functioned as a partial and statistically significant mediator in the relationship between OD and depersonalization. A significant direct effect of OD on depersonalization persisted, suggesting that stress only partially explains the relationship.

conclusionsThe findings provide cross-sectional support for the spillover hypothesis: OD is associated with psychological strain which in turn is associated with depersonalized attitudes toward patients. These findings suggest that OD may be part of a stressful work climate in which depersonalization is more likely to be observed, although causal interpretations cannot be drawn. IMPACT: The results highlight OD as a potential psychosocial risk factor for nurses and as a contextual correlate of depersonalization in patient care. Policies should be informed by further longitudinal and intervention studies before drawing firm conclusions about mechanisms or causality. Also, interventions should prioritize reducing the perceived stress of staff and restoring the ethical quality of the work environment over merely managing individual stress. IMPLICATION FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: These findings suggest that nursing managers should address OD as a contextual risk factor by reducing dehumanizing organizational practices and strengthening ethical, resource-preserving work conditions, rather than relying solely on individual stress-management strategies.