Creativity and Job Stress among Nurse Managers: Moderator Role of Perceived Organizational Support (POS)

Background: Creativity is needed to improve work quality especially in nursing. It is yet associated with challenges and thus needs organizational support. Aims: The study's goal is to investigate the relationships between mangers’ job stress, perceived organizational support (POS), and creativity in nurse managers, as well as the potential moderator role of POS in the association between stress and creativity. Subjects and methods: A stratified proportionate sample of 88 nurse managers was studied in a cross-sectional analytic study at six Ain Shams University Hospitals. A self-administered questionnaire with scores for stress, perceived organizational support (POS), and creativity was used to collect data. Results: Nurse Managers median age was 35 years, mostly females (71.6%) with bachelor’s degree (80.7%). In total, 47.7% had high stress, 61.4% reported high Perceived Organizational Support (POS), 61.4% high creativity. POS scores had significant positive correlations with stress (r=0.403), and creativity (r=0.457). According to the hierarchical regression analysis, creativity and POS are good predictors of stress score. Meanwhile, POS mediates the relationship between stress and creativity. Conclusion and recommendations: Job stress, POS, and creativity are all linked in nurse managers, with POS acting as a moderator in the stress-creativity relationship. The study recommends continuous organizational support for nurse managers to be more creative, along with recognition and rewards for innovative ideas.