Experience of violence, social support, nursing practice environment, and burnout on mental health among mental health nurses in South Korea: A structural equation modeling analysis.

Aims: This study examined the relationship between the experience of violence, social support, nursing practice environment, and mental health among South Korean mental health nurses.

Methods: Structured questionnaires were distributed to participants who worked in twelve mental health hospitals, each with at least 200 beds, in South Korea. We analyzed 243 questionnaires and used AMOS 25.0 to explore the relationships between the constructs.

Results: The total and indirect effects of the experience of violence and of social support on mental health were significant. The effects of burnout and of the nursing practice environment on mental health were positively significant. Burnout revealed a mediating association with the relationship between the experience of violence, social support, and mental health.

Conclusion: The study confirmed that the experience of violence negatively affects burnout among mental health nurses, while social support relieves burnout and strengthens mental health.

Implementation: Our research model shows that the experience of violence could affect burnout and mental health among mental health nurses. Therefore, nursing administrators should develop violence prevention policies and manuals for coping with the violence that can frequently occur in psychiatric wards.