Workplace Trust, Interpersonal Trust, and Nurses' Physical and Mental Health: The Mediating Role of Resilience

Examine the relationships between workplace trust, interpersonal trust, and nurses' physical and mental health, and specifically investigate the mediating role of resilience.

Nurses are central to healthcare delivery but frequently experience workplace violence, adversely affecting their well-being. Trust represents a higher-order mechanism that fosters positive attitudes and professional growth, potentially safeguarding nurses' resilience in coping with adversity. However, research elucidating how trust influences nurses' health via resilience remains limited.

A cross-sectional study was conducted using convenience sampling. A total of 2855 clinical nurses from general hospitals in Fujian Province, China, were surveyed between August and October 2022. Workplace trust and interpersonal trust were served as independent variables, Physical Component Summary and Mental Component Summary scores as dependent variables, and resilience as a mediator. Mediation analysis was performed using Mplus 8.3. The study was prepared and reported according to the STROBE checklist.

Mean scores were Physical Component Summary: 51.12 ± 8.90, and Mental Component Summary: 48.20 ± 10.18. Workplace trust had significant direct effects on both Physical Component Summary and Mental Component Summary. Interpersonal trust had no significant direct effects on Physical Component Summary or Mental Component Summary. Resilience demonstrated significant mediating effects: for workplace trust on Physical Component Summary and on Mental Component Summary; and for interpersonal trust on Physical Component Summary and on Mental Component Summary.

Workplace trust directly enhances nurses' physical and mental health. While interpersonal trust lacks a direct link to health outcomes, both workplace and interpersonal trust significantly improve nurses' health indirectly by bolstering resilience. Resilience serves as a critical pathway through which trust fosters well-being.

No patient or public contribution.

Nurse managers and healthcare administrators should prioritise interventions to cultivate workplace trust (e.g., fostering trust among colleagues, and between nurses and the organisation/management) and strengthen interpersonal trust and psychological resilience. Enhancing these protective factors will better equip nurses to manage occupational and personal stressors, ultimately safeguarding and improving their physical and mental health.