The relationships among personality, social support, and resilience of abused nurses at emergency rooms and psychiatric wards in Taiwan

The aim of the authors in this study was to identify factors associated with resilience that helped abused nurses face and cope with violent events. The data for this cross-sectional study were collected from June 2013 to December 2013; 272 participants were recruited from emergency rooms and psychiatric wards in four hospitals in central Taiwan. Among these participants, 230 (84.6%) met the inclusion criterion and completed all questionnaires; 69 (30%) of them reported having experienced only verbal violence; 46 (20%) reported having experienced only physical violence, and 115 (50%) reported having experienced a combination of verbal and physical violence. The following were positively associated with resilience score: having a college education or greater (exp(β) = 1.045, p = .018), extraversion (exp(β) = 1.012 per unit increase in the score, p < .001), family support (exp(β) = 1.004 per unit increase in the score, p = .031), peer support (exp(β) = 1.008 per unit increase in the score, p = .006), and lower level of neuroticism (exp(β) = 0.983 per unit increase in the score, p < .001); 43.6% of the variance in resilience was explained by the variables assessed. Adequate support and advanced education are important for abused nurses to enhance their resilience.