The Resilient Nurse: An Emerging Concept

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the concept of resilience and how it relates to the field of nursing. By definition, resilience is the ability to return to a state of normalcy or to “bounce back” from adversity or trauma and remain focused and optimistic about the future.1 Resilience is an imperative quality for nurses to possess because of the stressful nature of the profession of nursing. Studies have shown that those who have high levels of resilience are less likely to develop stress disorders and more likely to remain in the profession as healthy nurses.2 The concept is important for nursing management because resilience may play an important role in nursing longevity and retention. Nurse leaders may benefit from understanding how resilience applies to their staff and how to improve and enhance this concept in others. This paper provides a historical discussion of the concept of resilience, describes qualities of resilient nurses, discusses the impact of stress and coping on resilience, and proposes strategies to improve and enhance resilience in nurses.