Nurse students' attitudes toward the nursing profession after witnessing workplace violence

Background: Workplace violence is one of the most compelling problems facing health care sectors all over the world. The detrimental impact of workplace violence extends to affect nurse students who receive their training in clinical areas. Objective: The study aimed to investigate the impact of witnessing workplace violence during clinical training on the attitudes of Jordanian nursing students toward the nursing profession. Methods: Cross-sectional design was used in this study. Data were collected through electronic survey questionnaires from 131 nursing students from three nursing schools in Jordan. Attitude Scale for Nursing Profession was used to assess the participants' attitude toward nursing profession. Results: The results showed that about 34% of student participants witnessed workplace violence during their clinical training. Nursing student participants who did not witness workplace violence showed significantly more positive attitude toward nursing profession than who did witness. Conclusion: Witnessing workplace violence had a significant negative impact on how nursing students view nursing job.