Workplace violence and turnover intentions among nurses: The moderating roles of invulnerability and organisational Support – A cross‐sectional study

Abstract

Aims and Objectives: To investigate whether internal and external violence are associated with turnover intentions among nurses during a period of extreme duress.Background: Workplace violence can negatively impact upon mental and physical health, and turnover intentions. Research focusing on how dimensions of workplace violence, internal versus external, influence turnover intentions, and the factors that mitigate these effect is lacking.Methods: An online cross-sectional survey of multi-item scales was used to collect data from 462 Iranian nurses. We employed path modelling and analyzed the data using SPSS and PROCESS macro. A STROBE checklist was used to report findings.Results: Both dimensions, internal and external, of violence were positively associated with turnover intentions. Moreover, perceived invulnerability and organizational support moderates this association. When individuals perceive themselves as invulnerable and the organizational support as high internal violence is no longer indirectly related to turnover intentions via job satisfaction while external violence is indirectly and negatively related to intentions to quit. Conclusions:Nurses who regard themselves as invulnerable might be motivated to quit when they experience workplace violence. However, they are motivated to stay on the job when they both perceive themselves as invulnerable and the organization as supporting.Relevance to Clinical Practice: Organizations should re-consider their policies and approach towards workplace violence especially during extraordinary times of duress such as during pandemics.

Workplace violence influences nurses’ turnover intentions, but only when organisational support and perceived invulnerability are considered

“…This study1 investigated whether internal and/or external violence (both physical and emotional) are associated with turnover among nurses during high stress times. A cross-sectional online survey adapted various scales including the Korean Workplace Violence Scale (K-WVS)4 and was completed by 462 nurses.…”

“…Workplace violence (WPV) is a major area of concern in nursing. This study by Cakal and colleagues1 focuses on nurses and the impact of WPV on turnover intentions during times of high duress. The authors further delineate the types of WPV as internal, exerted by colleagues in the workplace, and external, exerted by patients and/or patients’ companions 2.…”

Mental health and intentions to quit among nurses in Iran during COVID‐19 Pandemic: A social identity approach

“…The data reported in this manuscript were collected as part of a larger data collection. One variable intention to quit has been used in another publication that reports the impact of internal and external workplace violence on intentions to quit via job satisfaction (Cakal et al, 2021 ). Here we consider how identifying as a nurse affects mental health and intentions to quit via positive and negative emotions and whether risk perception influences these associations.…”

Perceived organizational support, self‐efficacy and cognitive reappraisal on resilience in emergency nurses who sustained workplace violence: A mediation analysis

“…A supportive work environment can help nurses engage more in caregiving tasks and reduce negative emotions (Li et al., 2020). Nurses' perceived organizational support is negatively related to workplace violence and is an important mediating variable between workplace violence and nurses' turnover intention (Cakal et al., 2021; Liu et al., 2018). When emergency nurses perceived greater organizational support, the association between workplace violence and adverse outcomes such as increased burnout, decreased job satisfaction and increased turnover intentions was attenuated (Cakal et al., 2021; Liu et al., 2018).…”