Relationships between nurses’ experiences of workplace violence, emotional exhaustion and patient safety

BACKGROUND: The rising rate of workplace violence in hospitals is a serious concern. While leading organisations recommend implementing interventions to address workplace violence, little is known about the workplace violence relationship between patients and visitors, and how it affects nurses’ emotional exhaustion and their perceptions of patient safety. AIMS: The study’s purpose was to understand the status of workplace violence in hospitals and the relationships between nurses’ experiences of workplace violence, emotional exhaustion, and perceptions of patient safety. METHODS: This cross-sectional analysis used data from a survey conducted at a large academic medical centre using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture plus additional measures of workplace violence and emotional exhaustion. RESULTS: Nurses reported more occurrences of verbal violence than physical violence. Nurses’ experiences of workplace violence negatively affect nurses’ emotional exhaustion and patient-safety perceptions. Moreover, nurses’ emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between verbal abuse and patient-safety perceptions. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to reduce nurses’ emotional exhaustion and strengthen resilience can mitigate the negative effects of verbal abuse and to some extent the effects of physical violence.