Nurses' experiences of participating in employee assistance program and factors influencing its effectiveness: a qualitative study

This study innovatively identified nurses' experience of participating in the EAP and the factors influencing its effectiveness obtained from a qualitative analysis perspective. Nurses could have a variety of positive experiences by participating in an EAP, with improved mental health status being the main focus. However, the long-term and professional nature of EAP was still deficient. This study found that there were a variety of factors affecting the effectiveness of EAP implementation, including the government's financial support, institutional safeguards, and the participation and support of hospital management, which were the prerequisites for the effectiveness of the program. The integration of multiculturalism and the enhancement of publicity could promote the two-way understanding between nurses and EAP, while ensuring that the EAP had long-term, flexible, targeted, and professional characteristics was key to its effective implementation. Therefore, in future studies, there remains a need for the government to establish universal team training and implementation programs, while hospitals must personalize applications and maintain sustained implementation to collect nurse feedback, thereby optimizing the EAP and safeguarding the occupational health of nurses.