Abstract:

Objective To understand the chain mediating effects of emotional exhaustion and organizational support between nurses' job insecurity and life satisfaction，providing a basis for managers to take measures to enhance nurses' life satisfaction. Methods From June to July 2025，a convenience sampling method was used to select 1 859 employed nurses from 17 hospitals in Anhui Province as survey subjects. A general information questionnaires，job insecurity scales，emotional exhaustion scale，organizational support scales，and life satisfaction scales were used for the survey，and the data were analyzed. Results The mean score for quantity-based job insecurity items was （2.37±1.02）points，for quality-based job insecurity items was （2.73±0.83）points，and for total job insecurity items was （2.58±0.69）points. The mean score for emotional exhaustion items was （2.93±1.59）points，for organizational support items was （4.36±1.77）points，and for life satisfaction items was （3.23±0.82）points. Professional title was identified as a significant influencing factor of nurses' life satisfaction（F=5.485，P<0.01）. Nurses' job insecurity showed a significant positive correlation with emotional exhaustion（r=0.495，P<0.01），while significant negative correlations were observed with organizational support and life satisfaction（r=-0.611，-0.501，both P<0.01）.Emotional exhaustion exhibited significant negative correlations with organizational support and life satisfaction（r=-0.438，-0.367，both P<0.01）. Organizational support demonstrated a significant positive correlation with life satisfaction（r=0.546，P<0.01）. Emotional exhaustion played a mediating role between job insecurity and life satisfaction，with an effect size of -0.045（95%CI：-0.071--0.021），accounting for 8.98% of the total effect. Organizational support also mediated the relationship between job insecurity and life satisfaction，with an effect size of -0.189（95%CI：-0.224--0.155），accounting for 37.72% of the total effect. Emotional exhaustion and organizational support acted as a chain mediating role between job insecurity and life satisfaction，with an effect size of -0.032（95%CI：-0.042--0.023），accounting for 6.39% of the total effect. Conclusion Job insecurity can affect nurses' life satisfaction through the mediating effects of emotional exhaustion and organization support，as well as a chain mediating effect. Hospital managers need to start from the source of insecurity，reduce emotional exhaustion，cut off its impact on life satisfaction，and strengthen organizational support and policy maintenance to improve the life satisfaction of nursing populations

Key words: Nurse, Job insecurity, Emotional exhaustion, Organizational support, Life satisfaction, Chain intermediary