Prevalence of sexual harassment toward psychiatric nurses and its association with quality of life in China

Abstract Objective This study aimed to examine the prevalence of sexual harassment (SH) toward Chinese psychiatric nurses and its association with quality of life (QOL). Methods A total of 2124 psychiatric nurses were consecutively recruited from 10 psychiatric hospitals distributed across 10 provinces of China; of them, 1449 were included for analyses. Participants' socio-demographic characteristics, experiences of workplace SH in the past year, and QOL were recorded. Results Overall, 21.5% (n = 311) of participants reported SH, with 8.4% (n = 121) reporting once, 7.1% (n = 103) reporting twice and 6.0% (n = 87) reporting three times or more. Psychiatric nurses who experienced SH had lower QOL in physical, psychological, social, and environmental domains. Multiple logistic regression analysis found that nurses with shorter clinical experience were more likely to experience SH. Conclusions Workplace SH toward psychiatric nurses is common in mental health treatment settings in China. Considering its deleterious impact on nurses' well-being and care quality, effective staff training on the management of SH and a zero tolerance policy against SH should be developed for this population.