Aim: The present study aimed to deepen the understanding of the relationships among job demands, control, social support, burnout and engagement in nurses.
Background: Burnout is a prevalent phenomenon among nurses because of the interaction between high demands and low resources, according to the job demands-resources model.
Methods: A descriptive, correlational design was used in a stratified random sample of 100 nurses recruited from two Spanish hospitals. Job demand, social support, control, engagement, and burnout were measured. Data were analysed by hierarchical regression analysis.
Results: Social support is a significant predictor of nurses' engagement and demands is a predictor of nurses' burnout. Work engagement moderates the relationship between job demands and burnout.
Conclusions: The process that leads to burnout and the process that leads to engagement are not isolated processes; engagement acts as a moderator of burnout.
Implications for nursing management: The prevailing paradigm in combating burnout in nursing can be changed and could be based on the enhancement of nurses' strengths through increasing engagement.
Keywords: burnout; engagement; job demand-resources model; nurses.
© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.