First Responders First - Building resilience in nursing

Burnout, stress, and compassion fatigue are common factors that contribute to dissatisfaction in the nursing profession, especially in high-intensity units like emergency, pediatric, and intensive care.

A method to combat these factors is to support the cultivation of resilience in nurses. Resilience helps us navigate through trying times, from getting past small mistakes to finding our way through crises.

It is the ability to face challenges directly in a positive manner, allowing you to recover, adapt, and thrive despite failures and setbacks.

Resilience is not an inherent trait, it is a skill that can be learned and built up over time through strategies that promote self-care, self-confidence, and a positive mindset.

Nurse leaders and managers are responsible for establishing a healthy work environment as the well-being of any healthcare team is directly related to patient safety and quality of care.

This includes recognizing and applying strategies to foster resilience among nursing staff. Here are seven strategies to strengthen nurse resilience.

The first is facilitating social connections by supporting the development of interpersonal relationships between nurses, who are often the only people that really understand the contextual realities of the profession.

Events like debriefing sessions, potluck dinners, and holiday crafts allow nurses to develop social support groups to bond and share experiences.

Team-building activities like outdoor and community events can help nurses build a sense of camaraderie. These can be done adjacent to work times, to accommodate the competing demands of work/life balance.

Facilitating social connections helps strengthen teamwork and establish support systems to reduce stress and improve mental well-being.

Next involves promoting positivity by helping nurses develop a positive mindset. This can include implementing activities like practicing gratitude at the end of meetings or conducting random acts of kindness for staff and clients.

Promoting positivity supports the development of flexible thinking and self-confidence. Another strategy includes capitalizing on nurses’ strengths.

Flexible teaming that recognizes and properly allocates tasks across individual strengths creates a situation that benefits everyone.

For example, reassigning a nurse who has a passion for client admissions to assist during high admission volumes can improve workflow for the unit and improve the nurse’s excitement and engagement at work.

Recognizing individual nurses’ strengths encourages creativity at work and boosts morale. Fourth, nurturing nurses’ growth by guiding and supporting their personal and professional development including formal and informal mentoring can help acclimate new team members and encourage the development of critical thinking and clinical practice skills.

Other methods include providing access to and encouraging participation in continuing education courses that cover a wide variety of topics.

Nurturing nurses’ growth fosters self-confidence and lifelong learning. Next includes encouraging nurses’ self-care, which is vital for supporting the body’s physical needs and reducing stress.

Nurse leaders can emphasize the importance of getting adequate sleep, eating healthy and nourishing foods, and exercising regularly, and can also lead by example by incorporating these techniques into their own daily lives.

Encourage nurses to go on walks during breaks and take short breaks when necessary. Create an environment supportive of self-care by providing consistency and flexibility in scheduling shifts and providing comfortable break rooms to encourage relaxation.

Another strategy involves fostering mindfulness practice. Mindfulness helps nurses become aware of the needs of their body and mind, thereby helping them to recognize when their body needs a break.

Nurse leaders can facilitate mindfulness practice by providing resources like instructions for deep breathing techniques and recommendations for smartphone applications that promote mindfulness.

Encourage nurses to incorporate mindfulness habits as they are short and easily integrated throughout the day, such as during moments while washing hands, the moment before walking into a client’s room, or when sitting down at the nurses’ station.

These conscious efforts can relax the body and mind and prevent stress from mounting. Finally, the last strategy includes conveying altruism through genuine acts.

This can include stepping up to help a fellow nurse who may be having a difficult time. Often, modeling behaviors like altruism builds a sense of trust, deepens relationships, and boosts morale.

Giving meaningful recognition in or after the moment will show nurses that their actions are valuable and appreciated which builds self-confidence.

##SummaryAs a quick recap, resilience is a learnable skill that helps us navigate through difficult times. It is the ability and willingness to recover, adapt, and thrive despite failures and setbacks.

Burnout, stress, and compassion fatigue are common factors that contribute to dissatisfaction in the nursing profession.

To combat these factors, nurse leaders can implement strategies to build resilience. First, nurse leaders can facilitate social connections by promoting events that establish support systems between nurses.

Next, promote positive thinking by encouraging staff to practice gratitude and random acts of kindness. Another strategy involves capitalizing on nursing strengths by recognizing and utilizing strengths to encourage engagement and creativity at work.

Next, nurture nurses’ growth by developing mentorship opportunities and continuing education programs to foster lifelong learning.

Another strategy includes encouraging nurses’ self-care to support their body’s physiological needs. Next, foster mindfulness practice as it encourages self-awareness of the body’s needs.

Lastly, convey altruism through genuine acts to build a sense of trust, develop close and caring relationships, and boost morale.