Workplace violence and burnout among Chinese nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: does the sense of coherence mediate the relationship?

Workplace violence has always been a critical issue worldwide before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, which can lead to burnout and turnover. In addition, the burnout and mental stress of nurses during the COVID-19 period have been widely described. To our knowledge, no studies have examined the mediating effect of the sense of coherence on the relationship between workplace violence and burnout among Chinese nurses over time. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the relationship between workplace violence and burnout among Chinese nurses and how the sense of coherence mediates the association. Using a convenience sampling method, 1190 nurses from 4 tertiary grade-A comprehensive hospitals were investigated between September 2021 and December 2021 in 3 provinces of China. The Workplace Violence Scale, Burnout Inventory, and Sense of Coherence scale were used to collect data. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis to estimate direct and indirect effects using bootstrap analysis. The mean total scores for workplace violence and burnout were 1.67 ± 1.08 and 47.36 ± 18.39, respectively. Workplace violence was significantly negatively correlated with the sense of coherence (r = -0.25) and positively correlated with burnout (r = 0.27). Additionally, a higher level of workplace violence was associated with higher burnout (β = 1.13, 95