Building Nurses ‘Resilience to Trauma through Contemplative Practices

Abstract

Nurses can benefit from strategies that build resilience to counterbalance trauma exposures. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adverse community environments are common; nurses frequently encounter trauma victims and hear trauma narratives in most care settings. Having skills to manage the triggers present in health-care environments is essential. Contemplative practices can help to meet these needs. Breathing exercises can be used as needed throughout the work day; gratitude practices are simple but powerful; and visual journaling can help nurses process experiences. These practices are easy to implement and can profoundly affect health outcomes for nurses.

Can resilience promote calling among Chinese nurses in intensive care units during the COVID-19 pandemic? The mediating role of thriving at work and moderating role of ethical leadership

“…Existing evidence supports that resilience training or intervention is an essentially “positive psychology”—fostering individuals to learn and develop from adversity, trauma, stress, or failure rather than collapse (Mistretta et al, 2018 ). By coping successfully with traumatic experiences, overcoming the negative effects of risk exposure, or avoiding the negative trajectories associated with risks (Wang et al, 2015 ), greater resilience not only helps people bounce back from hardship and trauma, but also counterbalances trauma exposures (Fiske et al, 2020 ), which prevents harm to individual internal meaning, further protecting the calling. A person with high resilience potentially possesses more psychological energy and managing skills (Brown et al, 2020 ) to enhance his/her professionalism (George et al, 2021 ) toward own career despite being challenged by various adversities, which can help the individual to maintain career mission, further promoting calling.…”