University Nursing Module: Developing Resilience in Nursing Practice

This reflective essay delves into the crucial role of resilience in nursing, drawing upon the author's personal experiences and challenges faced during their university years and clinical placements. The essay utilizes Gibbs' reflective cycle to analyze the development of resilience, highlighting how it enabled the author to overcome setbacks, adapt to new environments, and persevere through difficult situations. It explores the impact of criticism, failures, and the pressures of patient care on the author's motivation and confidence. Furthermore, the essay incorporates evidence-based studies to emphasize the significance of resilience for healthcare professionals, particularly nurses, in managing stress, improving patient outcomes, and fostering professional growth. The author concludes by outlining an action plan for cultivating resilience, incorporating strategies such as practicing a beginner's mind, letting go of negative emotions, and cultivating gratitude and compassion, ultimately aiming to provide high-quality patient care. The essay emphasizes the importance of resilience in both personal and professional contexts, illustrating how it enables nurses to navigate critical situations, maintain emotional stability, and deliver optimal care.

Running head: RESILIENCE IN NURSING
RESILIENCE IN NURSING
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Introduction:
Adversities are common unpleasant parts of life. Resilience is the ineffable quality, which
knocks down the lives of individuals but at the same time allows them to come back being
stronger than before (Thomas and Revell 2016). It is important for every individual in the present
generation to find their ways to rise from the ashes rather than letting the failures and difficulties
overcome them and drain their energies and affect their self-respect (McGowan et al. 2016). This
attribute is considered to be one of the essential skills required for providing high quality nursing
care that has positive impacts on the health conditions of the patient. This assignment would be a
reflective one describing how I understood the importance of resilience and developed it over
time. Moreover, Gibbs reflection cycle would be used for developing the reflective journal that
will also shed light on the importance of this aspect of nursing on human care services.
Description:
During the initial days of my university, I had faced huge number of obstacles. I was not
being able to adjust myself with the other classmates and even with the new learning
environment. Because of this, my grades were falling apart in the initial examinations and
projects. This made others criticize my knowledge and skills stating that I would never be able to
become a nurse. They stated that I could never gain knowledge and confidence required by
professionals who provide care service to patients in times of their ailments. Such criticisms
started affecting me and they reached to such an extent in course of time that I decided to leave
pursuing my dreams of becoming a nurse leader in life. However, it was during such critical
times, my parents had a detailed discussion with me, and they made me understand that failures
are inevitable parts of life. Not being able to overcome such failures and withdrawing oneself

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from the motive is the real failure. Their strong words helped me look towards the better sides of
failures and I developed a strong will to overcome all failures and proceed in life without feeling
down. With the help and advice of my family members and well-wishers, I overcame all hurdles.
My grades developed in course of time because of the attribute of resilience. Even during the
time of my placements, I failed to meet the nursing standards in a number of incidents. I realized
that I do not have enough clinical and non-pharmacological knowledge required to care for
patients. These made me upset and disappointed and I started thinking that such gaps my affect
the health of patients. Similarly, I lost my motivation and thought of withdrawing. I remembered
the struggles that went on during the earlier part of my university years and how my resilience
helped me overcome it. I got motivated and encouraged. I thought of not losing hope. Gradually,
my confidence started to increase during the placement and made me learn many new insights
into nursing. This helped me regain back my trust on my own skills and I became prepared to
face the real world of healthcare again.
Feelings:
In the initial days of the university, I used to feel demotivated. I used to often get upset
with myself as I could not successfully complete my assignments or meet up the requirements of
the project like that of my classmates. I got frustrated when I saw that other classmates had
successfully adjusted to the new learning environment and were handling the pressures well.
These negative feelings gradually made me lose my confidence making me develop a feeling of
withdrawing from all. Similar had been the cases when I was attending the placements. Repeated
failures in meeting the quality standards and required treatment procedures for the patients made
me feel not only upset and hopeless about myself but also guilty or not being able to ensure
satisfaction of the patients. However, the strong words that were told to me by my parents had

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been my biggest strength and companion throughout the years that had helped me feel confident
and overcome various struggles in lives.
Evaluation:
The bad part of the experiences was that it had initially affected my internal motivation
and destroyed my self-confidence and self-esteem. I had gone through various difficult struggles
to overcome the phase. However, these experiences have more positive aspects than that of
negative aspects. These experiences taught me the importance of resilience. It is important for
every individual not to concentrate on the failures but more on the ways of overcoming the
failures, learning from the failures and then emerging out as more evolved individuals (Reyes et
al. 2015). In the present days of competitive world, every professional irrespective of the
industry he works, has to go through several struggles that might affect self-confidence, morale
and will power. Succumbing to the pressure might lead to overall loss of the individual, as he can
never reach the zenith of success that he had aspired in life (Rushton et al. 2017). In such
situation, the attribute of resilience help an individual to overcome all such struggles. Thomas
and Russelin (2018) are of the opinion that every healthcare provider has to face a number of
stress as well as difficult situations while they provide care for patients. This puts the healthcare
professionals at an increased risk of anxiety, depression, burnout and even stress-related illness.
From this paper, it have been found that nurses especially are more prone to both psychological
and physical disorders as nursing profession comes with high pressure situations and unique
forms of stress. Lekan et al. (2018) had stated that resilience training and coping mechanisms are
exceptionally essential for management of work-life balance mainly for those who are
responsible for delivering medical care. This is because their care is directly associated with the
health quality and safety of the patients who had come to seek for their assistance. Hence, the

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incidences that I have gone through had helped me in developing an understanding of the
importance of resilience not only in professionals but also in lives.
Analysis:
Resilience can be described as the ability of individuals in recovering as well as
recuperating quickly from difficult as well challenging situations. Shin et al. (2017) is of the
opinion that this quality is different stress management as the focus of resilience is understanding
that stress is bound to happen and therefore it should be treated as normal part of the day. Stress
management of the other hand typically requires a breakdown of the situation for resolving
stress.
Rushton et al. (2017) had opined that in cases of nursing professionals, it is important for
them in bouncing back with that of resilience as this remains associated with better patient care
as well as patient health outcomes. It has been found that with the help of attribute of resilience,
nurses would be more alert and they would stay positive with chances of their practicing with
clearer communication in comparison to cases where they are more anxious and stressed out
(Lopez et al. 2018). Therefore, experts advise that when nurses practice resilience effectively, it
becomes helpful for the nurses in rising through the ranks in their professional growth and career
at the same time of liking their occupation and being successful in exercising good judgments.
Thomas (2016) has stated that when nurses increase their resilience, they are seen to feel
energized, motivated, as well as capable of taking on more responsibilities. It had been found
through experimental studies that those who possess the attribute of resilience would have a
higher sense of self-awareness as well as persistence. They are also seen to harbor the energy in
sustaining their mind as well as their body in comparison to those participants who had no

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attributes of resilience. Delgado et al. (2017) also supports the mentioned facts and they had
stated that resilience also helps in developing emotionally intelligent people. This is because it
needs the qualities of emotional flexibility, as well as a positive outlook, adaptability and
becoming successful in reaching out to others for developing open communications.
Sanders (2015) had described the various ways for building resilience by the nurses. For
this, the nurses require taking and staying in control of their heart, mind, and body during the
entire time of their day. They also need to be love and accept their own selves as the person they
are and understand successfully what they need to be in place of utilizing tactics as well as
certain behaviors for working on their resiliency skill. The American Psychological Association
had been of the opinion that a number of factors that can help the healthcare professionals in
supporting the attribute of resilience. These are “maintaining good and positive relationships and
accepting that there are certain circumstances, which are out of one’s control. Some of the other
factors are sustaining optimism as well as having hopeful outlook for the future and even
keeping a long-term perspective” (Foster 2016).
Conclusion:
Due to several incidences I have gone through in the preliminary years of my university
as well as in the placements, I had understood the importance of an individual to possess the
attribute of resilience in their lives. Being resilient is about being able to withstand different
levels of setbacks, personal tragedies and even frustrations (Cusack et al. 2016). During the time
of crisis, a resilient healthcare professional would be able to cope with different events calmly
with patience, grace, hope and acceptance. On the other hand, a less resilient professional might
respond to the situation with anger, frustration, fear as well as impatience and witness themselves

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as victims (Li et al. 2015). Researchers are of the opinion that seven important areas help an
individual to become resilient. These include taking care of the basic needs, confidence, and
emotional stability, speaking the truth, developing insight and having faith (Reyes et al. 2015). I
had tried to harbor each of the areas with expertise and these in course of time had not only
helped them to become resilient but had also helped me to ensure balance of mental, physical as
well as emotional stability. Therefore, in the future times, when I would be facing difficult and
critical situations in both personal and professional lives, my attribute of resilience would be
helpful for me to overcome such situations. It would help me to handle critical and strenuous
events in the nursing profession and overcome them to provide uninterrupted quality care to
patients ensuring their satisfaction.
Action plan:
Through the different evidence-based studies that I have collected and with the advice of
the mentors, I have realized that, seven important aspects when mastered would help me to
develop resilience in nursing profession successfully.
 Practicing beginner’s mind: this help nursing professionals in staying focused in the
moment and help in paying attention to the situation at hand. Researchers are of the
opinion that if the nurses act on assumptions, feeling that they already are aware of what
is going to happen in future, chances are that there would be shutting them off from any
new possibilities (Reyes et al. 2015).
 Letting go: this habit suggests not quitting but promoting freeing oneself from negative
emotions and feelings so that she can work in the moment. I need to develop this aspect
so that I am not affected by difficult situation

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 Being kind and compassionate: this skill would help me by encouraging my positive
behaviors and feelings amongst each other, also helping in uplifting my mood in high-
pressure situation
 Practicing gratitude: researchers are of the opinion that nurses as well as the other
healthcare providers can always appreciate their health, secure jobs and expertise that can
help in making crucial and positive differences in the lives of the patients each day
(Cusack et al. 2016). By practicing the skill of thankfulness, I can expand my mind,
witness more abundances and opportunities and thereby staying optimistic.
 Staying authentic: it has been found that when professionals are honest and accept
themselves as the individuals they are, they are seen to become more purposeful in their
choices. Authenticity would also be reflected in the workplace, as healthcare
professionals will be able to develop honest as well as trustworthy relationships with their
patients. This would in turn help my patients to trust me as their care providers and this
would increase their cooperation in the treatment.
 Staying committed: I have understood that showing dedication to what I do and hence
going through with it with the help of the attributes of that of persistence as well as
patience can help the me in completing my workload and ultimately increasing my belief
in myself
 Trusting oneself: nursing professionals have great intuitions that they use for patient care.
By trusting the gut feeling as well as embracing faith, individuals develop their
confidence and thereby they can become more resilient and at the same time resourceful
gaining the knowledge that they are capable of

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With the above-mentioned skills, I would master the attribute of resilience and would ensure
providing the best care to patient without getting stressed and anxious of any uncertain events
that take place any day of my practice.

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References:
Cusack, L., Smith, M., Hegney, D., Rees, C.S., Breen, L.J., Witt, R.R., Rogers, C., Williams, A.,
Cross, W. and Cheung, K., 2016. Exploring environmental factors in nursing workplaces that
promote psychological resilience: constructing a unified theoretical model. Frontiers in
psychology, 7, p.600.
Delgado, C., Upton, D., Ranse, K., Furness, T. and Foster, K., 2017. Nurses’ resilience and the
emotional labour of nursing work: An integrative review of empirical literature. International
journal of nursing studies, 70, pp.71-88.
Foster, S., 2016. Promoting resilience in nursing. British Journal of Nursing, 25(20), pp.1155-
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Lekan, D.A., Ward, T.D. and Elliott, A.A., 2018. Resilience in baccalaureate nursing students:
An exploration. Journal of psychosocial nursing and mental health services, 56(7), pp.46-55.
Li, Y., Cao, F., Cao, D. and Liu, J., 2015. Nursing students’ post‐traumatic growth, emotional
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Reyes, A.T., Andrusyszyn, M.A., Iwasiw, C., Forchuk, C. and Babenko-Mould, Y., 2015.
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