Work-related violence and organizational commitment among health care workers: does supervisor's support make a difference?

Abstract

Work-related threats and violence are major occupational hazards, with potentially serious consequences for both victims and the organization that employs them. Only a few studies have prospectively examined the mitigating effect of social support from supervisors on organizational commitment following exposure to work-related violence and threats. This study aimed at examining the effect of immediate supervisor's support on affective commitment within 1, 3, 6 and 12months after exposure to violence and threats. After exposure to work-related violence and threats, the employees received a questionnaire within the first month and after 3, 6 and 12months. Right after the incident, 398 employees filled out the questionnaire, and 138 employees answered the questionnaire at all four time points. Prospective associations and mean differences between groups were calculated using linear mixed models. Employees receiving very high levels of social support from supervisors immediately after being exposed to work-related violence or threats had a significantly higher level of organizational commitment across all four time points when compared to the group experiencing middle/low levels of support. Furthermore, at 1- and 3-month follow-up employees receiving very high levels of social support from supervisors following work-related violence and threats reported significantly higher levels of commitment than did the group with high levels of social support from supervisors. Organizations should enhance the availability of social support from supervisors for employees experiencing work-related violence and threats. Training of supervisors to be very much concerned about employees exposed to work-related violence may be of critical importance to both the health and work outcomes of employees.