The protective role of self-efficacy against workplace incivility and burnout in nursing: A time-lagged study

Incivility has negative consequences in the workplace and remains a prevalent issue in nursing. Research has consistently linked incivility to nurse burnout and, in turn, to poor mental health and turnover intentions. To retain high-quality nurses, it is important to understand what factors might protect nurses from the negative effects of workplace mistreatment. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of relational occupational coping self-efficacy in protecting nurses from workplace incivility and related burnout and turnover intentions. A two-wave national sample of 596 Canadian nurses completed mail surveys both at Time 1 and one year later at Time 2. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized model. The model showed a good fit, and most of the hypothesized paths were significant. Overall, the results supported the hypothesized protective effect of relational occupational coping self-efficacy against incivility and later burnout, mental health, and turnover intentions. Relational occupational coping self-efficacy is an important protective factor against negative work behavior. Organizations should provide nurses with opportunities to build their coping strategies for managing job demands and difficult interpersonal interactions. Similarly, providing exposure to effective role models and providing meaningful verbal encouragement are other sources of efficacy information for building nurses’ relational coping self-efficacy.