Resilience in nurses: an integrative review

Aim: To describe nursing research that has been conducted to understand the phenomenon of resilience in nurses.

Background: Resilience is the ability to bounce back or cope successfully despite adverse circumstances. Nurses deal with modern-day problems that affect their abilities to remain resilient. Nursing administrators/managers need to look for solutions not only to recruit nurses, but to become knowledgeable about how to support and retain nurses.

Evaluation: A comprehensive search was undertaken for nursing research conducted between 1990 and 2011. Key search terms were nurse, resilience, resiliency and resilient. Whittemore and Knafl's integrative approach was used to conduct the methodological review.

Key issues: Challenging workplaces, psychological emptiness, diminishing inner balance and a sense of dissonance are contributing factors for resilience. Examples of intrapersonal characteristics include hope, self-efficacy and coping. Cognitive reframing, toughening up, grounding connections, work-life balance and reconciliation are resilience building strategies.

Conclusion: This review provides information about the concept of resilience. Becoming aware of contributing factors to the need for resilience and successful strategies to build resilience can help in recruiting and retaining nurses.

Implications for nursing management: Understanding the concept of resilience can assist in providing support and developing programmes to help nurses become and stay resilient.