Resilience is the ability to adapt or bounce back after being exposed to stressful situations or adversity. It encompasses recovery (being able to return to baseline functioning after a stressful situation), sustainability (the skill to continue functioning without disruption), and growth (enhanced adaptation beyond original levels of functioning).
What is resilience in nursing? Levels of resilience may depend on the context and it can be learned. Nurses, like all the health workers, face various stressful and difficult situations while they provide daily care for patients putting themselves at risk of anxiety disorders, depression, and high levels of stress.
Nurses are a key part of the health system as they need to cope with high levels of stress and pressure. Being resilient can help protect themselves from difficult situations, bounce back, and recover to their normal state more quickly.
They are very often exposed to the risk of burnout. The care tasks imply huge demands for them and if equipped with resources, skills, and tools to deal with such demands, health centers can reduce the risk of losing them as part of the health workforce.
By taking resilience training, they can learn how to cope with such situations and manage a work-life balance. Nurses can take advantage of this as they become more alert, how to stay positive, and practice clear communication. All these skills can result in better patient care and outcomes. Also, they will feel more naturally motivated, energized, and open to accept more responsibilities.
Resilience is important for nurses because workplace stress can affect their job satisfaction, increase staff turnover, and also hospital costs while reducing patient care’s quality. Resilient nurses can adapt to stress and use skills to cope effectively.
Some benefits of resilience in nursing are the increase in productivity, keeping better work relationships, and high energy levels. By being resilient, nurses can learn how to thrive in both their professional and personal lives.
Training programs for health professionals, especially for nurses, can help them create high levels of resilience. The best courses foster accurate cultures that encourage employees to care for themselves, which is critical.
Nurses are always helping others. With training, they learn to help themselves as well. Resilience training consists of a structured program that teaches how to develop abilities to keep both emotional and physical health, as well as social relationships.
Resilience training for nurses must respond to their specific needs and should not be restricted to wellbeing in the workplace. Instead, it is advisable to offer a set of skills that health professionals can apply in all areas of their own lives.
The most accurate resilience courses are designed around two core skills: mindfulness and value-based actions. Participants should be able to practice some basic mindfulness and body awareness exercises. Training should also help nurses clarify their personal values through different kinds of exercises
Depending on the time availability and the work distribution in each health center, it is often a good idea to deliver half-day sessions using the 2-1 method (two sessions distributed in two consecutive weeks and the third session is held one month later).
Groups shouldn’t exceed 12 members at a time and participants must be encouraged to attend all the sessions. In the time between the meetings, different resources to explore and exercises to complete at home must be provided to the trainees.
Besides creating a pleasant work environment among nurses, resilience training can avoid reaching the burnout point. Nurse burnout is a mental, emotional, and physical state inflicted by chronic overwork and a constant lack of fulfillment and support within the workplace.
The most common symptoms include emotional or physical exhaustion, job-related cynicism, and a low sense of personal accomplishment. If left untreated, this may lead to clinical depression.
Resilience training should include ways to identify and fight nurse burnout. There are warning signs that participants must be aware of so they can reverse when they are still on time. But what is more important, prevent it in the first place.
When planning a nurse resilience training, it has to be considered its feasibility of performing and the acceptability by the participants. The feasibility refers to the practicality of the training. A FODA analysis will help you determine the course’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, the resources required, the costs, and the prospects for success.
On the other hand, the training’s acceptability requires to evaluate if it is sufficient to serve the purpose of avoiding nurse burnout and improve their resilience skills to deal with the daily work.
Finally, consider if the training can be offered online. It is advisable to go for a mixed training with some face-to-face sessions and some theoretical part that can be perfectly held online. In the current situation, you should consider online sessions to replace the offline parts trusting a platform where both trainees and coaches can keep in touch, see each other, and be able to participate.
Online interventions can cause changes in resilience. There are programs and tools that can help health care professionals develop high levels of resilience skills in a matter of weeks.
Nurses can build resilience and this can be trained. Besides the practice of mindfulness, which requires focusing on the present moment, the American Psychological Association suggests some tips that can help nurses increase and support their resilience:
The National League for Nursing has defined the core values of nursing as caring, integrity, diversity, and excellence. Also, to ensure that patients are looked after by competent workers, it has been developed a set of skills that nurses should fulfill.
Called “the 6Cs of nursing”, they encompass Care, Compassion, Competence, Communication, Courage, and Commitment. This model was introduced in 2012 but it is still valid because patients need to be looked after by people who are respectful of their dignity and work with compassion. Each “C” involves:
Together with the skills that nurses need to have, integrity is one of the most important qualities. It is about being morally accountable for one’s actions. Integrity in nursing is vital as they act as moral agents. Moral integrity in nurses helps them build a strong sense of themselves and act in a consistent way to understand the things they do.
Regarding caring, there are some values that cannot be missing. A caring culture is fundamental for nurses who are characterized by their concern and consideration for their patients. They care about the common good and pay special attention for the most vulnerable ones. We can list the six-core care value, which include:
Nursing can be extremely challenging but at the same time exciting and rewarding. These health professionals have the privilege and responsibility of taking care for the sick, injured and dying people. They can make a difference in others’ lives. Some nurses agree that some of the most rewarding parts of this profession are:
If you have any questions about nurse resilience training solutions or you want to start your facility’s private classes, training, or program, call The Resiliency Solution at 919-525-4559 for help.
All of our services are private and confidential.
