The effects of workplace violence on the job stress of health care workers: buffering effects of wellbeing HRM practices

Abstract

Contemporary research has focused on antecedents, incidences, and consequences of workplace violence in the healthcare sector. However, little is known about the role of HRM in supporting healthcare workers to cope with negative emotions arising from workplace violence. Grounded in the conservation of resources theory, this study examines the moderating effects of wellbeing HRM practices (WBHRM) on the relationship between workplace violence and job stress. We also examine the mediation effects of job stress on the relationship between workplace violence and quality of care. Data were gathered from 254 and 225 (Study 1) aged care workers (nurses and personal care assistants) in Australia and 136 healthcare workers (doctors and nurses) in China (Study 2) across multiple waves. We use a new measure of WBHRM in this paper to test our hypotheses. Results show that the presence of WBHRM practices moderated the relationship between workplace violence and job stress. We also found that job stress mediates the relationship between workplace violence and quality of care. The findings contribute to the HRM literature by providing an innovative WBHRM approach to support health care workers to cope with job stress after they experience workplace violence.

Keywords:

• Wellbeing HRM
• health care workers
• workplace violence
• job stress
• quality of patient care

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all participants (e.g., registered nurses, enrolled nurses, endorsed enrolled nurses, personal care workers, the OHS coordinator, and the OHS officer) in this study; without their contribution, it would not have been possible to undertake the research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

There has been no funding support for the research paper.