Violence Against Nurses: Personal and Institutional Coping Strategies-A Scoping Review

Violence against nurses in the workplace is a worldwide concern. The high prevalence of these events has negative impacts on professionals, including stress, abandonment of the workplace, and post-traumatic stress syndrome. It is a frequent problem for nurses. As awareness of this problem increases, strategies for prevention and management of aggression and violence have evolved. This study aims to identify strategies, both institutional and personal, to address violence against nurses in the workplace.

A scoping review was conducted with the PRISMA approach, using New Rayyan platform and CEMB for the evaluation of methodological quality. We included all research that studied strategies against workplace violence for nurses in hospitals in Spanish or English published between 2019 and 2024.

Among the 28 analyzed full-text studies, two central categories emerged with respect to addressing violence against nurses before (prevention), during (mitigation), and after (response) such events: (1) training and nurses' action strategies and (2) practical implementation tools. Institutional leadership supporting a zero-tolerance culture; training and resources for early identification of risks; and mitigation strategies with strong emphasis on de-escalation of potential violence, building personal resilience, and support from security personnel are among the effective strategies.

Strategies for preventing and handling workplace violence are multidimensional. Leadership engagement, addressing gender biases, conflict management training, resilience building, and security can reduce violence against nurses and its sequelae. It is essential to generate practical knowledge that is easy to apply in healthcare settings. More research is needed, especially in Latin America.