The moderating role of social support on workplace violence and stress among psychiatric nurses

Exposure to violent acts is considered one of the major stressful events psychiatric nurses are exposed to. Social support has been found to reduce nurses' stress and alleviate their experience of workplace violence; however, no accounts are available on whether social support moderates the relationship between workplace violence and stress. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the moderating role of social support on workplace violence and stress among psychiatric nurses. A cross-sectional descriptive and predictive design was utilized. A total of 195 psychiatric nurses were recruited from two governmental mental health hospitals. The results showed that psychiatric nurses were frequently exposed to violence, both verbally and physically, whether during their entire career or within the past 12 months. Verbal violence was more common among participants than physical abuse. Male nurses and nurses working mix-shift were more likely to experience violent acts. Regression analysis showed that only workplace violence and social support predicted psychiatric nurses' stress. On the other hand, social support did not moderate the relationship between workplace violence and stress. Further research is needed to investigate whether similar findings will conform with the results of this study. Meanwhile, healthcare institutions need to implement strategies to reduce or prevent nurses' exposure to workplace violence and lower their stress levels. Mobilizing and activating social support resources at work are considered other avenues to reduce stress experienced by psychiatric nurses.