THE MEDIATING ROLE OF JOB SATISFACTION IN THE NEXUS BETWEEN OCCUPATIONAL BURNOUT AND WITHDRAWAL-RELATED WORK DISENGAGEMENT (“QUIET QUITTING”) AMONG NURSING PROFESSIONALS: A THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

Abstract

This study investigates the mediating role of job satisfaction in the relationship between occupational burnout and “quiet quitting”, a form of withdrawal-related work disengagement wherein employees limit their efforts to formal job requirements, among nursing professionals in Pakistan. Drawing on the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model and the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, we propose that burnout erodes job satisfaction, which, in turn, precipitates behavioral disengagement. Using a two-wave, time-lagged survey design with a nationally representative sample of 862 registered nurses from public and private hospitals, we employed structural equation modeling and Hayes’ PROCESS macro to test direct, indirect, and moderated pathways. Results confirmed that emotional exhaustion, the core dimension of burnout, has the strongest negative effect on job satisfaction, which, in turn, predicts higher levels of quiet quitting. The hypothesized mediation model demonstrated excellent fit and robustness across multiple sensitivity checks, including alternative model testing, common method bias assessments, and subsample replications. Further analyses revealed important contextual nuances. The indirect effect of burnout on quiet quitting, via job satisfaction, was significantly stronger among private-sector nurses. This may be due to lower perceived organizational support. Additionally, years of nursing experience moderated the relationship between burnout and satisfaction. Tenured nurses (with more than 10 years of experience) showed greater resilience. This suggests adaptive coping or desensitization over time. This study validates a context-sensitive measure of quiet quitting in a low- and middle-income country (LMIC). It also advances global understanding of covert workforce disengagement in high-stress clinical settings. The findings underscore job satisfaction as a crucial intervention point to mitigate burnout-driven attrition and preserve nursing workforce sustainability in resource-constrained health systems.