Building nurse resilience in the workplace

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Occupational Health
• Psychology

Background:

• Workplace stress negatively impacts nurse resilience.
• Traditional resilience-building programs are often time-intensive and conducted outside work hours.
• This study explored brief, accessible interventions for nurses during work hours.

Purpose of the Study:

• To replicate previous research on resilience interventions.
• To enhance nurse resilience across multiple hospital units.
• To identify preferred and effective resilience-building activities.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional, longitudinal, repeated measures survey design was employed.
• Nurses participated in a four- to six-week study involving six brief interventions.
• Surveys were administered at baseline, 10 time points, and study conclusion.

Main Results:

• Resilience scores significantly increased at four weeks and were sustained at three months.
• Self-reported stress levels decreased throughout the study period.
• Nurses voluntarily continued using the selected interventions.

Conclusions:

• Work-hour interventions effectively reduced nurse stress and improved resilience.
• These accessible options can be adopted by nurse leaders to foster a less stressed workforce.
• Increased nurse resilience can mitigate burnout and turnover, crucial for healthcare settings.