Resilience in nursing: the lived experiences of mental health and casualty nurses who return to the workplace after being assaulted by patients at Gweru provincial hospital

Abstract

Nurses in the hospital setting are the frontline staff caring for patients. Despite the high incidents of violence directed at the mental health and casualty nurses while on duty, there is limited qualitative data that explores the lived experience of returning to the workplace after an assaultive incident. This phenomenological study sought to explore and analyze the phenomenon of registered nurses who are employed in high risk settings at Gweru provincial Hospital. The research questions considered the detailed descriptions of the lived experiences of the nurses when returning to the workplace after assaults. The theoretical framework of shame resilience was used as the participants continued to survive and thrive after the adverse assaultive events. Data was collected using in-depth interviews from purposeful sampling. Nine registered nurses working in the high risk areas of mental health and casualty departments provided detailed descriptions about the phenomena. Data management was an inductive iterative analysis completed and facilitated by the use of NVivo10 software program. The study found out that participants had a brief emotional response post assault mitigated by the community of nursing personnel from their immediate surroundings and felt that assault was “part of the job”. Providing a true culture of safety would include enhancements to the internal community of bedside nursing practice. In addition research is needed interventions that can effectively enhance the internal community after assault by patients. This study contributes to positive social change by providing registered nurses, an oppressed group, a voice to mitigate negative consequences associated with assault in the hospital setting.