Resilience and Quality of Life in Registered Nurses Working in Rural and Small Hospitals

Purpose: To study holistic health of rural registered hospital nurses by exploring quality of life and resilience. Design: Mixed methods survey design. Methods: Two hundred nine registered nurses from 23 rural-designated hospitals were recruited via e-mail using a state nurse database. The survey utilized the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, the WHO Quality of Life-BREF Scale, demographic questions, and two open-ended questions for self-reporting resilience strategies and barriers. Demographics and scale ratings were analyzed using SPSS. Content analysis was used to evaluate self-reported resilience strategies and barriers. Findings: Reliability scale ratings were r = 0.886 and r = 0.935, respectively. A resilience mean score of 31.7 of 40 max (moderate) was consistent with prior studies for nurses and larger populations. The quality-of-life mean score (4.38 out of 5) indicating a strong rating of personal health and moderate satisfaction for overall holistic health. The psychological health mean was rated lowest. Qualitative findings identified six themes for resilience strategies and five themes for barriers to participation in resilience activities. These themes align strongly with the philosophical principles of holistic nursing. Conclusion: Resilience-building interventions and consideration for decreasing barriers to health-promoting behaviors are suggested. Fostering resilience can improve quality of life of nurses and support effective, holistic care.