ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
This article is part of the Research TopicWorkplace Violence in Healthcare: Prevention Strategies and Mental Health ConsequencesView all articles
Factors Influencing Workplace Violence Among Chinese Nurses: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study
Provisionally accepted
- West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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Background: Workplace violence against nurses and nursing students is a pervasive global issue. A comprehensive understanding of its influencing factors is imperative for developing effective prevention strategies. This study aimed to conduct a thorough examination of the incidence and contributing factors of WPV and its subtypes among nurses undergoing standardized training in Sichuan Province, China. Methods: A large-scale, multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted using an anonymous online questionnaire. A cohort of nurses in standardized training from 90 hospitals across Sichuan Province was invited to participate. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression models. Results: The study included 7,231 nurses in standardized training, of whom 1,328 (18.37%) reported experiencing WPV. The prevalence of WPV subtypes was as follows: emotional abuse (15.72%), threats (7.01%), verbal assault (4.98%), physical assault (3.84%), and sexual assault (2.50%). Binary logistic regression analysis identified several protective factors against personally experienced WPV, including being female (OR=0.690), living with parents (OR=0.825), perceiving career prospects as better than the current level (OR=0.714), higher job-related social support (OR=0.846), greater psychological resilience (OR=0.837), stronger professional identity (OR=0.845), higher bullying scores (OR=0.865), and witnessing verbal assault against colleagues (OR=0.582). Conversely, risk factors for WPV included living in an urban area (OR=1.185), holding religious beliefs (OR=1.562), having experienced occupational exposure (OR=1.386), caring for more than 12 patients during a day shift (OR=1.359), personal experience with medical complaints (OR=2.098), higher adaptive performance scores (OR=1.141), and witnessing WPV against colleagues (OR=38.490). Conclusions: The prevalence of WPV against nurses in standardized training in China was lower than rates reported in other studies, yet the issue remains significant. Comprehensive strategies are needed to improve work environments and support the mental health of nurses, which may effectively reduce the incidence of WPV.
Keywords: Mental Health, WPV, Prevalence, risk factor, Protective factor, Nurses, China
Received: 02 Sep 2025; Accepted: 21 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Zheng and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xinru Liu, liuxin916r@163.com
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