Hendra Lukito

Apart from physical health problems, the COVID-19 outbreak also affected psychological health, causing extreme fear of this pandemic. Thus, this study aims to investigate the relationship between nurse performance and the fear of COVID-19 mediated by job insecurity and job satisfaction with conservation of resources theory as the lens. Data from 260 nurses were collected through an online structured questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modeling-partial least squares. The direct effect findings show that COVID-19 fear influences job insecurity (p < 0.05) but does not influence job satisfaction and nurse performance (p > 0.05). Besides, job insecurity significantly influences job satisfaction and nurse performance (p < 0.05). On the other hand, job satisfaction has no effect on nurse performance (p > 0.05). Then, the indirect effect results show that job insecurity fully mediates the influence of COVID-19 fear on job satisfaction and nurse performance (p < 0.05). Likewise, job satisfaction partially mediates the influence of job insecurity on nurse performance (p < 0.05) but does not mediate the fear of COVID-19 on nurse performance (p > 0.05). These findings provide evidence that the fear of COVID-19 plays an essential role for job insecurity, influencing job satisfaction and nurse performance. These results can develop strategies for better human resource management in nursing staff and provide pragmatic insight into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Acknowledgment
The authors thank Universitas Negeri Padang for its support in completing this article. We also thank all members for their support and cooperation.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Work engagement among nurses is a critical determinant of healthcare quality and patient safety. However, the psychological mechanism through which job resources foster nurses’ work engagement in non-Western healthcare contexts remains insufficiently understood. This study aims to examine the mediating role of job satisfaction in the relationship between job crafting, perceived supervisor support, and work engagement among nurses in a hospital setting. A cross-sectional survey was conducted between February and May 2025 using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) on 279 valid responses (84.3% response rate) collected from four private hospitals. The results supported that job crafting has a significant positive effect on work engagement (β = 0.633, p < 0.001) and job satisfaction (β = 0.187, p = 0.003). Furthermore, perceived supervisor support significantly influences job satisfaction (β = 0.542, p < 0.001) but does not have a significant direct effect on work engagement (β = 0.016, p = 0.787). Mediation analysis reveals that job satisfaction partially mediates the relationship between job crafting and work engagement (β = 0.037, p = 0.038). Further, job satisfaction was found to fully mediate the relationship between perceived supervisor support and work engagement (β = 0.106, p = 0.002). These findings highlight the pivotal role of job satisfaction as a psychological mechanism linking job resources and proactive behaviors to nurses’ work engagement in hospital settings.

Acknowledgment
This work was supported by the Research Institute and Community Development of Universitas Andalas under Grant (121/UN16.19/PT.01.03/PMDSU/2025).