It was a cross-sectional qualitative study using semi-structured interviews to elicit the lived experience of nurses who had experienced workplace violence. Six open-ended questions were asked: (1) Would you describe the incident of violence that you had experienced in your workplace? (2) How did you respond to the incident? (3) Would you describe your feeling during the incident? (4) How did you cope with your emotion after the incident? (5) What support did your hospital provide to you in that incident? (6) What was your opinion on the support provided by the hospital? Other than these questions, interviewers would ask further questions according respondents’ answers to elicit more detailed, in-depth views and feelings. 

Data saturation occurred after interviewing 15 nurses and data collection stopped since new data consistently failed to contribute to new concepts. The interviews were audio-taped, transcribed and content analyzed. Five major themes emerged from the analysis that were: (1) reactions, (2) coping mechanism, (3) behavioral changes, (4) institutional support, and (5) required support. This study revealed that nurses had feelings of anger, anxiety, and fear of other patients after the incident and they tended to share their experience of workplace violence with their co-workers and friends and regarded that was the best support. They perceived that the institutional support was inadequate and they also suggested various measures that institutions might consider to prevent workplace violence and also provide the kind of support that nurses needed.