Nurses feel lonely in their work life, and due to emergencies (such as disasters and pandemics), violence, and the structure of healthcare services, they experience physical, cognitive, and emotional burnout. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between nurses’ perceptions of loneliness at work, burnout, and work engagement in public and private hospitals. Another aim of the study is to reveal the mediating role of burnout in the relationship between loneliness at work and work engagement. The population of this cross-sectional and descriptive study consists of nurses working at a state hospital and a private hospital in Istanbul, Turkey (N = 655). The sample size was determined using the sample calculation formula for known populations, with a 95% confidence level (1-α), a 5% margin of error (significance level α), and 80% power (1-β); 0.50 probability of the event occurring (p) and 0.50 probability of the event not occurring (q), the sample size was determined to be 243 nurses.The data were collected between 18 April and 20 May 2022 using online and face-to-face survey methods. It was determined that the measurement model and the scales used in the study are highly valid and reliable. The data were analyzed using SPSS 27.0 and Smart PLS v.3.2.9 programme. According to the correlation analysis, there is a moderate positive correlation between workplace loneliness and burnout, a moderate negative correlation between workplace loneliness and work engagement, and a strong negative correlation between work engagement and burnout. While loneliness at work explains 36% of the variance in burnout and 70% of the variance in work engagement, burnout explains 67% of the variance in work engagement. Loneliness at work further undermines work engagement by worsening burnout. It is important and recommended to ensure that nurses acquire social skills and relevant competencies throughout their professional lives before the onset of adverse mental health conditions.
Servet Alp (2026) studied this question.