Experience of Violence and Factors Influencing Response to Violence Among Emergency Nurses in South Korea: Perspectives on Stress-Coping Theory

Abstract

Introduction: This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the experiences of workplace violence involving emergency nurses and to identify the factors influencing the response to violence on the basis of the stress-coping theory formulated by Lazarus and Folkman.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, a structured questionnaire was administered to measure the experience of violence, perceived stress, coping actions after violence, resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale), and responses to violence. The participants were 131 nurses who were working in the emergency departments in 9 of 11 general hospitals in 2 cities in South Korea. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t tests, analyses of variance, Pearson correlations, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses.

Results: The most frequent type of violence was verbal violence, and the main offender involved in all types of violence was the patient. The methods for coping with violence were mainly passive, and emotional responses were the most frequently reported response to violence. In the final model (explanatory power = 41.5%), with response to violence as the dependent variable, the effects of the experience of violence disappeared, and only the effects of perceived stress and resilience remained.

Discussion: The results of this study suggest that internal factors such as perceived stress and resilience have a more meaningful effect on the response to violence than the experience of violence itself. The findings are expected to serve as assessment data for preparing interventions and policies around prevention of, and effective coping regarding, workplace violence toward emergency nurses.

Keywords: Coping; Emergency department; Resilience; Stress; Violence.