The following study tests a model, which links staff nurse perceptions of empowerment to their perceived fit, with 6 areas of work life and work engagement/burnout using Kanter’s work empowerment theory. The model was tested in a cross-sectional correlational survey with a random sample of 322 staff nurses in acute care hospitals across Ontario. Overall, staff nurses perceived their work environment to be only somewhat empowering. Overall empowerment had an indirect effect on emotional exhaustion (burnout) through nurses’ perceived fit in 6 areas of work life. These findings have important implications in the current nursing shortage