The mediating role of coping styles between nurses’ workplace bullying and professional quality of life

Abstract

Aims This study aimed to explore the relationship between workplace bullying among nurses and their professional quality of life, as well as the mediating role of coping styles between the two factors. Background In China, the overall status of nurses' professional quality of life is not optimistic, and the problems of low compassion satisfaction and high compassion fatigue persist. Workplace bullying, which is a serious global issue, can negatively impact the mental health and professional quality of nurses. However, it has still not attracted enough attention from managers. Methods The study used a cross-sectional research design and surveyed 297 clinical nurses from two tertiary grade A hospitals in Wuhan, China. Data were collected through an online questionnaire survey from March to May 2022. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods, including Pearson correlation analysis and structural equation modeling. Results The score for nurses' workplace bullying was 38.72 ± 12.30. The scores for the three dimensions of professional quality of life were 27.56 ± 4.79 for compassion satisfaction, 30.51 ± 4.33 for burnout, and 28.47 ± 4.65 for secondary trauma stress. The scores for positive coping style and negative coping style were 34.59 ± 5.72 and 20.34 ± 5.08 points, respectively. Workplace bullying had a direct negative effect on compassion satisfaction, as well as positive direct effects on burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Coping styles played a mediating effect between workplace bullying and the pairwise relationships of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary trauma stress. Conclusion Workplace bullying hurts nurses' professional quality of life while coping styles plays an mediating role between workplace bullying and professional quality of life. Nursing managers can improve nurses' professional quality of life by reducing workplace bullying and enhancing positive coping style. Implications for nursing management Nursing managers can employ management wisdom and techniques to mitigate the presence and detrimental effects of workplace bullying. This, in turn, promotes a positive work environment and enhances the professional quality of life for nurses.

Association between Workplace Bullying, Job Stress, and Professional Quality of Life in Nurses: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Among them, we excluded 10 articles by applying our inclusion and exclusion criteria. Therefore, we included nine studies in our review [ 28 , 32 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 ]. We present the flowchart of the literature search in Figure 1 .…”

“…The quality of all the studies in our review was good. Three studies [ 32 , 56 , 58 ] did not eliminate confounders, but the scholars in these studies examined mediation models between workplace bullying, job stress, and professional quality of life. Thus, their aim was not to establish a relationship between these variables but to investigate the mediating role of some variables; so, the authors did not take into account potential confounders.…”

“…Four studies [ 32 , 54 , 56 , 57 ] measured correlation coefficients between workplace bullying and professional quality of life by using the ProQOL. Since the ProQOL measures three dimensions of professional quality of life (i.e., compassion satisfaction, job burnout, and secondary traumatic stress), we performed three meta-analyses.…”

“…The need to educate nurses regarding the management of bullying is highlighted by the fact that often nurses choose negative coping strategies, such as avoidance, resorting to substance use, and exhibiting lower levels of acceptance, as their primary coping mechanisms [ 96 ]. When nurses use positive coping strategies and resilience, the impact of bullying on the quality of their work life is mediated [ 32 , 56 ].…”

“… Forest plot for the correlation coefficient between workplace bullying and compassion satisfaction [ 32 , 54 , 56 , 57 ]. …”