title: The importance of the supervisor for the mental health and work attitudes of Australian aged care nurses.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The work attitudes and psychological well-being of aged care nurses are important factors impacting on the current and future capacity of the aged care workforce. Expanding our understanding of the ways in which the psychosocial work environment influences these outcomes is important in order to enable organizations to improve the management of human resources in this sector.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using survey data from a sample of 222 Australian aged care nurses, regression analyses were employed to test the relative impact of a range of psychosocial work environment variables derived from the demand-control-support (DCS) model and organizational justice variables on satisfaction, commitment, well-being, and depression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The expanded model predicted the work attitudes and well-being of aged care nurses, particularly the DCS components. Specifically, demand was related to depression, well-being, and job satisfaction, job control was related to depression, commitment, and job satisfaction, and supervisor support and interpersonal fairness were related to well-being. The contributions of informational and interpersonal justice, along with the main and interaction effects of supervisor support, highlight the centrality of the supervisor in addressing the impact of job demands on aged care nurses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Psychosocial variables have utility beyond predicting stress outcomes to the work attitudes of nurses in an aged care setting and thus present further avenues of research for the retention of nurses and improved patient care.
authors.affiliation: Australian Catholic University, Victoria, Fitzroy, Australia. john.rodwell@acu.edu.au
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rodwell
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001315:Australia; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D009745:Nursing, Supervisory; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012112:Residential Facilities; D012935:Social Justice; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*