Effectiveness of interventions for the prevention or management of workplace violence in student nurses during clinical placement: A systematic review

Hila Ariela Dafny; Nasreena Waheed; C J Cabilan; Sandra Johnston; Vincent Pearson; Anne Mette Adams; Craig Phillips; Shannon Brown; Christine McCloud

doi:10.1111/jan.16357

Effectiveness of interventions for the prevention or management of workplace violence in student nurses during clinical placement: A systematic review

J Adv Nurs. 2024 Jul 30. doi: 10.1111/jan.16357. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Hila Ariela Dafny^{1

2

3}, Nasreena Waheed^{1

2

4}, C J Cabilan^{5

6}, Sandra Johnston⁷, Vincent Pearson⁸, Anne Mette Adams^{1

2}, Craig Phillips¹, Shannon Brown⁹, Christine McCloud¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia.
² Caring Futures Institute, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia.
³ Mparntwe Centre for Evidence in Health, Flinders University: A JBI Centre of Excellence, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia.
⁴ College of Nursing, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
⁵ Work Health and Safety, Occupational Violence Prevention and Management, Work Health and Safety, Canberra Health Services, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
⁶ School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
⁷ School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
⁸ JBI, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
⁹ Research Engagement Team, Flinders University, Library, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.

PMID: 39078141
DOI: 10.1111/jan.16357

Abstract

Aim: To systematically investigate the effectiveness of interventions for managing workplace violence experienced by registered nursing students during clinical placement.

Design: A systematic review of experimental studies.

Methods: The review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The key search concepts such as "Nursing students", "Education", "workplace violence", "clinical placement" and "clinical study" were inspected to identify relevant articles (Appendix A). Two independent reviewers completed screening, critical appraisal and data extraction. Due to heterogeneity among the included studies, results were synthesized narratively.

Data sources: MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Web of Science Core Collection (Clarivate Analytics), Scopus (Elsevier), Embase (Ovid), Cochrane CENTRAL, ERIC (ProQuest), ProQuest Central and ProQuest Social Science Premium Collection were searched from inception to 27th February 2023.

Results: A total of 13 studies were included in this review. The predominant intervention for managing workplace violence experienced by registered nursing students during clinical placements was education. Approaches varied among studies and included didactic teaching, e-learning, role-playing and simulation practice. The included studies showed uncertain improvements in registered nursing students' confidence, coping skills, knowledge, competence and self-efficacy in dealing with workplace violence during clinical placements. Only one study assessed the incidence rate of workplace violence and found that a multi-faceted intervention involving both staff and students decreased the incidence.

Conclusion: Given the heterogeneity of educational interventions, the effect of interventions for managing workplace violence during students' clinical placement is uncertain. To address this gap, high-quality, proactive and combined interventions at both institutional and organizational levels are needed.

Keywords: bullying; clinical placements; management; nursing; nursing students; systematic review; workforce issues; workplace violence.

Publication types

Review