Resilience Room Use and Its Effect on Distress Among Nurses and Allied Staff

BACKGROUND: Nationwide nursing shortages have spurred nursing research on burnout and resiliency to better understand the emotional health of nurses and allied staff to retain talent. Our institution implemented resilience rooms in the neuroscience units of our hospital. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of resilience room use on emotional distress among staff. METHODS: Resilience rooms opened to staff in the neuroscience tower in January 2021. Entrances were electronically captured via badge readers. Upon exit, staff completed a survey containing items on demographics, burnout, and emotional distress. RESULTS: Resilience rooms were used 1988 times, and 396 surveys were completed. Rooms were most used by intensive care unit nurses (40.1% of entrances), followed by nurse leaders (28.8%). Staff with >10 years of experience accounted for 50.8% of uses. One-third reported moderate burnout, and 15.9% reported heavy or extreme burnout. Overall, emotional distress decreased by 49.4% from entrance to exit. The greatest decreases in distress were recorded by those with the lowest levels of burnout (72.5% decrease). CONCLUSION: Resilience room use was associated with significant decreases in emotional distress. The greatest decreases occurred with the lowest levels of burnout, suggesting that early engagement with resilience rooms is most beneficial.