Hardiness Mediates Stress and Impact Level in ED Nurses Who Experienced a Violent Event.

INTRODUCTION: This secondary analysis examined the mediating effect of hardiness between stress and impact level in ED nurses who experienced a violent event.

METHOD: This correlational study was conducted from June to August 2014. We used the visual analog scale to measure stress level, the Impact of Event Scale-Revised to measure impact level after the violent event, and the Dispositional Resilience Scale to measure hardiness. We then analyzed mediating effects with the Sobel test. Data were collected in 31 emergency medical centers located in B city in Korea. Data from 321 ED nurses who experienced a violent event were analyzed. Most nurses (91.9%) were women, with a mean age of 28.73 years. The main outcome measure was the mediating effect of hardiness between stress and impact level after ED nurses experienced violence.

RESULTS: We found that both violence-related stress (B = 0.22, P < .001) and hardiness (B = -0.33, P = .037) were significant predictors of impact level from a violent event. Based on results of a Sobel test, hardiness partially mediated the relationship between violence-related stress and impact level from a violent event (Z = 2.03, P = .044).

DISCUSSION: Hardiness had an effect on reducing the impact level of ED nurses who had experienced a violent event and had a mediating role in mitigating their stress. Therefore, we recommend the development of an intervention program that emphasizes the improvement of hardiness in ED nurses.