Nurse Resiliency and Health in Practicing Nurses Before and During COVID-19

Abstract

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to compare the degree of resilience and self-perceived physical and mental health in nurses before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. BACKGROUND Work-related stress among nurses is recognized as an antecedent of burnout, which in turn impacts resiliency and well-being. The work of nursing has long been noted as stressful. Although nurse resilience and perceived well-being have been shown to decrease during a period of usual stress (constant and chronic), the impact and significance of prolonged stress on nurse resilience and well-being illuminates throughout the literature. METHODS Replicating a cross-sectional prepandemic study, nurses were resurveyed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. In both studies, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and PROMIS Global Health was used to measure respondent's: 1) resilience level; 2) physical health status; and 3) mental health status, respectively. Independent 2-sample t tests were performed to compare the pre-and-post score differences in the 3 outcomes. To identify characteristics that were associated with the pre-and-post differences, comparison analyses were also performed within each level of the respondents' characteristic variables. RESULTS A higher proportion of postsurvey respondents reported working more than 8 hours of overtime per week, had thoughts of quitting their current job, and thought their workload was too much compared with the presurvey respondents. Generally, the postgroup resilience scores and self-perceived physical and mental scores were statistically significantly lower compared with the pregroup scores, but those differences were only observed in certain subgroups defined by respondents' characteristics. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Self-perceived physical and mental health are significantly associated with the degree of resilience and worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in younger and older nurse cohorts. Engaged nurse leaders are key to implement interventions that build resilience and perceived well-being during periods of usual and prolonged stress.

Exploring US Nursing Leadership During the Initial COVID-19 Pandemic Response

“…A recent quantitative study further supports how communication by nurse leaders is vital in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic 35 . Another study highlighted the importance of communication in promoting resilience 22 . Previous studies involving healthcare response to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak illustrate similar themes such as the importance of flexibility and the search for up-to-date information 36 …”

“…A nonexperimental-design study on the development and validation of authentic nurse leadership indicated that nurse leaders used altruism and caring to cope causing them to be less likely to advocate for themselves 21 . Another study among nurses during the pandemic revealed the need for nurse leaders to support clinical nurse resilience by adopting transformational leadership–style strategies such as encouraging nurses to care for themselves and providing a safe space for effective dialogue 22 …”