Nurses and occupational violence: the role of organisational support in moderating professional competence.

Objective: Occupational violence as experienced by professional nurses has been extensively researched. However, the majority of studies have focused primarily on psychological and emotional outcomes and have not identified any interventions that may reduce the impact of aggressive behaviour on professional competence. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between organisational support, occupational violence and perceived professional competence of professional nurses in Australia.

Design: A model testing research design was used to test the hypothesis that organisational support, as experienced by nurses, would moderate the relationship between occupational violence and perceived professional competence.

Setting: Nurses registered in Division 1 of the Nurses Board (Victoria, Australia).

Participants: A systematic random sample of 380 registered nurses from the target population of nurses in Victoria was identified.

Main Outcome Measure: The relationship between organisational support, occupational violence and perceived professional competence of professional nurses in Australia.

Results: The result showed that there was a significant effect of occupational violence on perceived competence. Analysis of the moderating effect of organisational support on the relationship between occupational violence and professional competence showed there was significant organisational support and occupational violence interaction. Overall, the data analysis demonstrated the hypothesis was upheld that the negative effects of occupational violence on perceived professional competence will be moderated by perceived organisational support.

Conclusions: The failure to receive appropriate organisational support may result in lowering professional nurses' competence levels, causing a significant problem for the profession in that a reduction in professional competence has significant implications for patient care. The findings heighten the responsibility of the nursing profession to become more aware of the needs of professional nurses.