Exploring the Link Between Abusive Supervision and Medical Errors in Nursing Interns: The Role of Emotional Exhaustion and Emotional Intelligence

Abstract

Abusive supervision poses a significant threat to the well-being and performance of healthcare professionals, yet its impact on patient safety outcomes, such as medical errors, remains underexplored. This study examined the relationships among abusive supervision, emotional exhaustion, and medical errors within a sample of nursing interns in Nigerian hospitals. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, it was hypothesized that abusive supervision would predict emotional exhaustion, which in turn would increase self-reported medical errors. Emotional intelligence was examined as a moderating variable, proposed to buffer the effect of abusive supervision on emotional exhaustion, thereby forming a moderated mediation model. Participants were 312 nursing interns (Mage = 23.5 years, 64.4% female) recruited from some public teaching hospitals in southwest, Nigeria. Results from structural equation modeling supported full mediation: higher perceptions of abusive supervisory behavior were associated with greater emotional exhaustion, which in turn predicted increased medical errors. Additionally, emotional intelligence significantly moderated the relationship between abusive supervision and emotional exhaustion, such that interns with higher emotional intelligence experienced less emotional exhaustion under abusive supervision. Indirect effects were significant, supporting moderated mediation. These findings highlight emotional exhaustion as a key mechanism in the abusive supervision-medical errors relationship and underscore the protective role of emotional intelligence. Implications include the need for supervisory training and the development of emotional intelligence in nursing interns to enhance resilience and promote patient safety.