Rethinking resilience in nursing education: Workplace bullying, resilience, and work stress among undergraduate nursing students during clinical placements.

BACKGROUND

Clinical placements expose undergraduate nursing students to complex interpersonal and organizational challenges that may contribute to work-related stress. Workplace bullying has emerged as a significant psychosocial stressor, while resilience is often conceptualized as a protective resource. However, its role in this relationship remains unclear.

AIM: To examine the relationships among workplace bullying, resilience, and work stress among undergraduate nursing students during clinical placements and to clarify the role of resilience in shaping work stress within the context of workplace bullying.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional correlational study.

METHODS

A total of 325 undergraduate nursing students in Taiwan completed a structured questionnaire measuring workplace bullying (NAQ-R), resilience (Brief Resilience Scale), and work stress (Chinese version of the HSE Indicator Tool). Data was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

RESULTS

Workplace bullying was positively associated with work stress, whereas resilience was negatively associated with work stress. No significant association was found between workplace bullying and resilience. Neither mediation nor moderation analyses supported resilience as an intermediary mechanism between workplace bullying and work stress.

CONCLUSIONS

Workplace bullying and resilience appear to function as independent risk and protective factors in relation to work stress. Neither mediation nor moderation effects were observed, supporting a parallel-effects model in which environmental and personal factors contribute independently to nursing students' stress experiences.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING EDUCATION: Interventions should adopt a dual-focused approach that simultaneously addresses the clinical learning environment and actively fosters resilience through structured educational strategies.