The mediating role of organizational justice between ethical climate and work engagement among emergency nurses in the West Bank: Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM)

Author First name, Last name, Institution

• Malakeh Z. Malak, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan
• Ahmad Shuhaiber, Zayed University
• Emman Alshawish, An-Najah National University
• Anas Shehadeh, American University of the Middle East
• Manar Bani Hani, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan
• Abdelrahman Swalma, H-Clinic Specialty Hospital

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

International Emergency Nursing

Publication Date

6-1-2026

Abstract

PurposeNurses working in emergency departments, especially in conflict-affected areas such as the West Bank, Palestine, face severe and unique challenges related to maintaining ethical climate, organizational justice, and work engagement. Limited evidence is available on these variables among emergency nurses in Palestine. This study investigated the levels of these variables and examined the mediating role of organizational justice between ethical climate and work engagement.MethodsA descriptive correlational design with a convenience sample of 387 emergency nurses was employed in this study. Data were collected using a validated survey instrument, which included the Ethical Climate Questionnaire (ECQ), Organizational Justice Scale, and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9), as well as sociodemographic data. Data analysis included the Structural Equation Model using the Partial Least Square to examine the overall structure of the research model.ResultsThe results revealed average satisfaction with the ethical climate (M = 3.01 + 0.93/5), average levels of organizational justice (M = 3.46 + 0.92/5), and average level of work engagement (M = 3.58 + 1.46/6). Significant positive relationships were found between ethical climate, organizational justice, and work engagement. In addition, a significant positive relationship was found between ethical climate and organizational justice and the research model showed an acceptable fit, which supported the mediating role of organizational justice between ethical climate and work engagement.ConclusionThis study underscored the need to develop interventions and policies aiming to improve ethical climate and organizational justice to improve emergency nurses’ work engagement. Fostering ethical workplace climate directly improves work engagement and improves organizational justice, which also improves work engagement. The interplay of these variables is evident even in high-stress, resource-limited, and challenging work environments.

DOI Link

10.1016/j.ienj.2026.101806

ISSN

1755-599X

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Volume

86

Disciplines

Business | Medicine and Health Sciences

Keywords

And emergency nurses, Organizational justice, Work engagement, Work performance, Workplace ethics

Scopus ID

105034583729

Recommended Citation

Malak, Malakeh Z.; Shuhaiber, Ahmad; Alshawish, Emman; Shehadeh, Anas; Bani Hani, Manar; and Swalma, Abdelrahman, "The mediating role of organizational justice between ethical climate and work engagement among emergency nurses in the West Bank: Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM)" (2026). All Works. 7961.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/works/7961

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no