Understanding the causes and consequences of envy among nurses: A scoping review

This scoping review presents an overview of the causes and consequences of envy among clinical nurses.

Many nurses in the United States have in recent years left their permanent positions for temporary agency assignments that pay higher salaries. Although greed seems like a likely explanation for the rise in travel nursing, humans tend to have a particular interest in wanting what others have.

A five-stage scoping review framework and the PRISMA-ScR checklist guided this review.

Social comparison and malicious envy are prevalent among nurses. Envy is a powerful emotion that affects human communication and behaviour in organizations. Scholars have underexplored the potential benefits of leveraging benign envy in the nursing context.

The results highlight the relational nature of envy. Social comparison and envy provide an insight that suggests that nurses who change jobs are not necessarily greedy. They may be seeking the right mix of tangible and intangible rewards.

Greed and envy can motivate nurses to change jobs. Although envy and greed may produce the same outcome, they are qualitatively different. The motivation to change jobs alludes to nurses' desire to have better control of their professional and personal lives.