Nurses' resilience levels and the effects of workplace violence on patient care

Nurses experience high rates of violence on the job, which is a significant stressor. Stress can alter nurses' care of patients, but stress can be mitigated by resilience. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between nurses' resilience levels and their reports of patient care following episodes of workplace violence. Six themes emerged from nurses' (n = 57) responses to workplace violence: vigilance, cautious yet individualized with care, part of the job, growth, jaded, and no effect. Low resilience levels were found in nurses with themes of feeling jaded, cautious yet individualized with care, and vigilance. High resilience levels were found in nurses with themes of no effect, growth, cautious yet individualized with care, and vigilance. Nurses' resilience scores were related to their patient care descriptions after episodes of workplace violence. Raising nurses' resilience levels through training might help them to positively overcome the effects of workplace violence, limiting impacts to patient care.