Institutional Silence and Informal Coping: A Qualitative Descriptive Study of Nurses' Experiences of Workplace Violence in Three Hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
- 1Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, College of Nursing, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract
Background/objectives
Saudi evidence on workplace violence (WPV) against nurses is largely survey-based. This study explored how nurses in three Riyadh hospitals experienced and coped with WPV, the institutional factors shaping their responses, and the improvements they proposed.Methods
In this qualitative descriptive study, 17 purposively recruited registered nurses from a tertiary government, a specialised government, and a private hospital took part in face-to-face semi-structured interviews (January-March 2026). Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis and reported according to COREQ.Results
The findings describe participants' experiences and are not prevalence estimates. Four themes were constructed: (1) everyday exposure to violence and its cumulative burden; (2) coping through personal strategies and peer support; (3) institutional silence and gaps in organisational protection; and (4) balancing self-protection and therapeutic care. Participants described relying on personal and peer resources where they perceived institutional protection as insufficient. Their priorities for improvement, reported separately, centred on de-escalation training, simpler reporting, timely post-incident support, and leadership accountability.Conclusions
In participants' accounts, informal coping absorbed harms that organisational systems did not address. Hospital managers could use these findings to check whether reporting, post-incident follow-up, training, staffing, and security arrangements work in practice. Participants' proposals require evaluation.
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BibTeX
@article{alodhailah2026institutional,
title = {{Institutional Silence and Informal Coping: A Qualitative Descriptive Study of Nurses' Experiences of Workplace Violence in Three Hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.}},
author = {Abdulaziz M Alodhailah},
journal = {Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/healthcare14193341},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42881780},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Institutional Silence and Informal Coping: A Qualitative Descriptive Study of Nurses' Experiences of Workplace Violence in Three Hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
AU - Abdulaziz M Alodhailah
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
JO - Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)
DO - 10.3390/healthcare14193341
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42881780
AB - Background/objectives Saudi evidence on workplace violence (WPV) against nurses is largely survey-based. This study explored how nurses in three Riyadh hospitals experienced and coped with WPV, the institutional factors shaping their responses, and the improvements they proposed.Methods In this qualitative descriptive study, 17 purposively recruited registered nurses from a tertiary government, a specialised government, and a private hospital took part in face-to-face semi-structured interviews (January-March 2026). Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis and reported according to COREQ.Results The findings describe participants' experiences and are not prevalence estimates. Four themes were constructed: (1) everyday exposure to violence and its cumulative burden; (2) coping through personal strategies and peer support; (3) institutional silence and gaps in organisational protection; and (4) balancing self-protection and therapeutic care. Participants described relying on personal and peer resources where they perceived institutional protection as insufficient. Their priorities for improvement, reported separately, centred on de-escalation training, simpler reporting, timely post-incident support, and leadership accountability.Conclusions In participants' accounts, informal coping absorbed harms that organisational systems did not address. Hospital managers could use these findings to check whether reporting, post-incident follow-up, training, staffing, and security arrangements work in practice. Participants' proposals require evaluation.
SN - 2227-9032
ER -