Abstract
Background:
Workplace violence is a growing phenomenon in health care settings, which negatively impacts nurses’
physical and mental well-being and intention to leave. Understanding the forces that shape nurses’ intention to leave is
therefore fundamental to safeguarding the quality of patient care, patient safety, and system sustainability, a critical and
central concern for health care management.
Purpose:
Against a backdrop of workplace violence, high workloads, and chronic nurse burnout, we test the mediating
role of burnout on the relationship between workplace violence and intention to leave. We also test the buffering role of
well-being human resource management (WBHRM) on the relationship between burnout and intention to leave, so that
higher levels of WBHRM will mitigate the positive relationship between burnout and intention to leave.
Methodology/Approach:
We test these hypotheses using the conservation of resources (COR) theory and a three-
wave matched sample of 179 nurses working in a large Chinese health service.
Findings:
We confirm one of our two hypotheses. We report that nurse burnout positively mediates the relationship
between workplace violence and intention to leave. However, interestingly, we find that WBHRM does not buffer the
relationship between nurse burnout and intention to leave but actually exacerbates this relationship.
Practical Implications:
We discuss the health care management implications of our findings and suggest various
possible explanations for WBHRM exacerbating the relationship between burnout and intention to leave. We suggest that
health care managers need to understand WBHRM within its wider social context, the proactive use of HRM practices to
prevent violence and burnout before significant personal resource loss, and the need for structural changes in hospital
settings to tackle systemic workforce challenges such as high workloads and work intensification
Workplace violence is a growing phenomenon in health care settings, which negatively impacts nurses’
physical and mental well-being and intention to leave. Understanding the forces that shape nurses’ intention to leave is
therefore fundamental to safeguarding the quality of patient care, patient safety, and system sustainability, a critical and
central concern for health care management.
Purpose:
Against a backdrop of workplace violence, high workloads, and chronic nurse burnout, we test the mediating
role of burnout on the relationship between workplace violence and intention to leave. We also test the buffering role of
well-being human resource management (WBHRM) on the relationship between burnout and intention to leave, so that
higher levels of WBHRM will mitigate the positive relationship between burnout and intention to leave.
Methodology/Approach:
We test these hypotheses using the conservation of resources (COR) theory and a three-
wave matched sample of 179 nurses working in a large Chinese health service.
Findings:
We confirm one of our two hypotheses. We report that nurse burnout positively mediates the relationship
between workplace violence and intention to leave. However, interestingly, we find that WBHRM does not buffer the
relationship between nurse burnout and intention to leave but actually exacerbates this relationship.
Practical Implications:
We discuss the health care management implications of our findings and suggest various
possible explanations for WBHRM exacerbating the relationship between burnout and intention to leave. We suggest that
health care managers need to understand WBHRM within its wider social context, the proactive use of HRM practices to
prevent violence and burnout before significant personal resource loss, and the need for structural changes in hospital
settings to tackle systemic workforce challenges such as high workloads and work intensification
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Health Care Management Review |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2026 |
UN SDGs
This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
-
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Keywords
- burnout, Chinese hospitals, intention to leave, nurses, well-being HRM, workplace violence
Cite this
- APA
- Author
- BIBTEX
- Harvard
- Standard
- RIS
- Vancouver