Resilience is the ability to bounce back from challenges — a line item from any job description of a healthcare professional today. An ability to adapt and cope in the face of overwhelm is a necessary character trait when working in any healthcare setting.
The challenges faced by nurses and healthcare professionals can be heavy. Burnout, compassion fatigue, workplace difficulties, staffing shortages, policy changes, patient concerns, emotional demands, high stress situations — these are each significant on their own, and many professionals deal with these burdens simultaneously.
Resilience is a tool that helps healthcare professionals face and address these difficulties. Read on to learn more about what resilience looks like in healthcare, strategies to build better resilience, and how workplaces can support resiliency efforts.
What Is Resilience?
Resilience is defined as “the capacity to withstand or recover quickly from difficulties.” This inner strength is what helps people cope with significant setbacks. This character trait has been referred to as “ordinary magic” in the general population because of the significant way resilience helps people navigate inevitable life challenges.
What are the elements of resilience that help people?
- Adaptability: Being able to adapt and adjust to new conditions is a key element of resilience. Few things in life are constant, and successfully adjusting to personal and professional changes is a key indicator of a resilient person.
- Coping Strategies: There are different habits and techniques that people use to manage stress and difficulty. Understanding and using these coping strategies are essential when navigating challenges.
- Emotional Strength: Effectively managing emotions even through setbacks is a pillar of resiliency. Understanding, regulating, and using emotions in constructive ways helps establish overall resilience.
Psychological Benefits of Resilience
Resilience is proven to predict lower levels of mental health conditions, specifically depression and anxiety. Self-reported resilience also helps individuals who deal with trauma and PTSD. Resilience is also reported to predict greater recovery in individuals after instances of vicarious trauma.
Physical Benefits of Resilience
Beyond mental health improvement, resilience is also shown to have physical health benefits. Stress wreaks havoc on the body, and resilience is the ability to minimize the presence of those effects. When stress is managed, individuals show lower levels of chronic disease plus stronger immune function. Cardiovascular conditions are less prevalent. Healthy lifestyle behaviors are also shown to be more prevalent among resilient individuals, which further improves overall physical well-being.
Social and Professional Benefits of Resilience
While the psychological and physical benefits of resilience are clear, the benefits in relationships are just as significant. Socially, resilience helps form stronger interpersonal connections and increases an overall sense of community. Supportive relationships mean a reliable network and an opportunity to ask for help when needed, which significantly increases overall well-being. Workplace dynamics (including patient relationships and team interactions) are improved when resilient individuals can provide encouragement and connection.
What Factors Influence Resilience?
Multiple factors contribute to an overall level of resilience, and only some can be personally controlled. Some factors, though, can be improved to help with building resilience. A framework can be intentionally created that helps practice and develop resilience. Here are a few of the personal and environmental factors that contribute to being a resilient person.
Personal Factors of Resilience
Some personality traits, such as optimism and flexibility, are contributing factors toward resilience. Problem-solving skills or emotional regulation ability are also personal factors that can make a person more resilient. Active coping styles (proactively addressing challenges) are a key trait of resilient people. Other individual factors that impact resilience include previous experiences, cognitive flexibility, and self-efficacy.
Environmental Factors of Resilience
There are elements outside of personal factors that contribute to resilience. These are environmental circumstances that have an impact on a person’s whole self and their overall ability to handle challenges. These can include workplace culture, social support systems, and access to resources.
5 Ways to Develop Better Resilience
Resilience is not always something that comes naturally, though innate levels of resilience vary widely. Resilience can be a learned skill. There are practical ways to develop higher levels of resilience, and it’s a character trait that can be increased through practice — just like any other skill.
Here are five strategies that can help build higher levels of personal and professional resilience for for nurses and healthcare professionals:
Establish Self-Care Practices
Simple healthy habits (in physical, mental, and emotional areas) go a long way in establishing growing levels of resiliency for nurses and healthcare professionals. Think regular exercise, fueling with nutritious foods, sufficient sleep, making time for hobbies, and prioritizing professional help if needed. Even just starting simply with 30 minutes of walking per day is proven to boost overall mental and physical health.
Focus on Mindfulness and Stress Management
When mindfulness is prioritized and stress is managed, resilience can grow to levels that positively impact overall health for nurses and healthcare professionals. Taking the time to be mindful (meditation practices, deep breathing exercises, yoga, and focusing on the here and now) is shown to have a positive relationship with increased resiliency.
Seek Social Support
A network of social support helps maintain both physical and psychological health. When relationships are prioritized, nurses and healthcare professionals are better able to bounce back from difficulty and effectively manage stress. Simple steps to increase social support include seeking new connections through volunteering or joining community groups, or asking for help when needed. Intentionally focusing on connecting with colleagues can add to a sense of workplace community.
Pursue Professional Development
When professional development is prioritized, nurses and healthcare workers have more knowledge and skills to navigate hardship. They also have a greater sense of career resilience and overall well-being — increased confidence can bring greater emotional regulation and life satisfaction. Continuous learning helps to build resilience.
Set Boundaries
For some, one of the most challenging strategies to build resilience can be setting boundaries and learning that the word “no” can be a complete sentence. But managing workload effectively and asking for help when needed is an essential skill to build personal and professional resilience. Boundaries are shown to improve mental health, create better relationships, and increase resilience.
Resilience in the Workplace: How to Create a Supportive Environment
Employers and leadership can play a significant role in helping healthcare professionals have a resilient workplace environment. Some initiatives that can help with this include:
- Peer support programs
- Mentorship opportunities
- Feedback systems
- Open communication
- Mental health resources
- Counseling services
Each of these can build individual resilience while also creating an overall work environment that fosters connection and character growth. Actively managing workplace stress and supporting mental health will help employees with multiple skills related to resiliency, including:
- Job satisfaction
- Organization commitment
- Improved self-esteem
- Increased sense of purpose
- Higher productivity
- Deeper connections
When individual employees and overall workplace culture are more resilient, everyone reaps the benefits.
How SHC Supports Healthcare Professionals
Supplemental Health Care (SHC) understands the need to support nurses and healthcare professionals on the job. In a field full of challenges and uncertainties, helping healthcare workers have a positive work experience is a top priority of our team. Reach out today to take the next step toward a fulfilling local or travel healthcare job with SHC.
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