Linking witnessing mistreatment to safety consciousness and safety behavior: a longitudinal study of hospital nurses in China

Drawing on Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory, this study investigates how witnessing patient mistreatment influences nurses’ safety outcomes through psychological and team-level mechanisms. Using a two-wave survey of 422 nurses from three tertiary hospitals in southern China, we tested hypotheses on safety consciousness and behaviour. Results indicated that witnessing patient mistreatment negatively affected safety behaviours via reduced safety consciousness. Moreover, team safety climate buffered this effect. These findings extend the JD-R framework by incorporating bystander experiences and multilevel resources in healthcare safety contexts, with implications for interventions to improve nurse well-being and patient safety.