Nurses Between the Hammer and the Anvil: Analyzing the Role of the Workplace Prevention Climate in Reducing Internal and External Violence

Abstract

The aim of this study was to test a model including relationships among internal and external violence, workplace violence-prevention climate, exhaustion, and intention to leave (ITL) in a sample of nurses. Data were collected by a self-report questionnaire involving nurses (n = 313) from two multispecialist hospitals in Italy. The survey was cross-sectional and nonrandomized. Path analyses showed the presence of the mediating role of internal violence between workplace prevention climate and exhaustion, as well as the mediating function of both types of violence between workplace prevention climate and ITL. Moreover, an indirect effect through exhaustion between internal violence and ITL was highlighted. These findings suggested that organizations that invest in preventive measures may reduce incidents of violence and, in turn, prevent negative consequences on worker well-being.