Psychological Reactions and Coping Strategies in Nurses' Experiences With Workplace Bullying: A Qualitative Study

Workplace bullying remains a pervasive concern in healthcare, with nurses reporting among the highest rates of exposure across health professions. This study explored nurses' lived experiences of workplace bullying, with particular attention to their psychological reactions, coping responses and the organisational conditions that shaped these processes. A descriptive phenomenological design was employed. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with fourteen nurses at a tertiary hospital in China between October and December 2024. Data were analysed using Colaizzi's seven-step method. Four overarching themes were identified: (1) From emotional shock to lingering psychological trauma, (2) tensions between passive tolerance and active coping, (3) organisational climate of silence and hierarchical oppression and (4) psychological recovery and meaning reconstruction. The findings revealed that bullying induced acute and cumulative emotional distress—including anxiety, fear, helplessness and withdrawal—and prompted a range of coping behaviours such as endurance, overperformance and seeking support. Participants' responses were deeply shaped by hierarchical organisational cultures, leadership inaction, and a perceived lack of psychological safety in accessing support. These insights highlight the urgent need for healthcare institutions to implement trauma-informed, culturally responsive interventions that cultivate psychologically safe workplaces. Supporting nurses' emotional well-being is essential to fostering moral resilience, retaining workforce capacity and sustaining ethical, high-quality patient care.