Interventions to Prepare and Support New Graduate Nurses for Responding to Workplace Violence: A Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Occupational Health
• Violence Prevention

Background:

• Workplace violence is a major risk for nurses, especially new graduates transitioning to practice.
• Vulnerability stems from limited authority, coping resources, and confidence in managing aggression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To map interventions preparing and supporting new graduate nurses against patient/visitor-initiated (Type II) and colleague-initiated (Type III) workplace violence.

Main Methods:

• Scoping review following Arksey and O'Malley framework and JBI methodology.
• Searched five databases: PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science.
• Included 13 studies on Type II, Type III, or both violence types.

Main Results:

• Interventions included educational (e.g., cognitive rehearsal) and organizational strategies (e.g., mentorship, safety policies).
• Quantitative data showed limited reduction in violence incidence.
• Qualitative data indicated improved confidence, recognition skills, and self-efficacy.

Conclusions:

• Current interventions enhance new graduate nurses' preparedness and confidence in responding to workplace violence.
• Limited impact on violence occurrence suggests a need for broader organizational and perpetrator-focused strategies.
• Standardized measurement approaches are needed to capture changes across outcome domains.