Building Resilience in Burns Nurses: A Descriptive Phenomenological Inquiry

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the concept of building resilience as a strategy for responding to adversity experienced by burns nurses. Nurses who care for patients with severe burn injury are often exposed to patients' pain and disfigurement, encountering emotional exhaustion, distress, reduced self-esteem, and desensitization to pain. Resilience has been identified as an essential characteristic for nurses in their work environment. Resilience assists nurses to bounce back and to cope in the face of adversity, sustaining them through difficult and challenging working environments. Nonetheless, there remains limited information that addresses the concept of building resilience in burns nurses. In 2009, seven burns nurses were recruited from a severe burn injury unit in New South Wales, Australia. A qualitative phenomenological methodology was used to construct themes depicting nurses' experiences. Participants were selected through purposeful sampling, and data were collected through in-depth individual semistructured interviews using open-ended questions. Data were analyzed with Colaizzi's phenomenological method of data analysis. The concept of building resilience as a strategy for coping with adversity was identified and organized into six categories: toughening up, natural selection, emotional toughness, coping with the challenges, regrouping and recharging, and emotional detachment. The findings clearly demonstrate that it is vital for burns nurses to build resilience to endure the emotional trauma of nursing patients with severe burn injury. Knowledge about building resilience could be incorporated into nursing education for both undergraduate and experienced nurses. Building resilience within the domain of burns nursing has the potential to retain nurses within the profession, having implications for staff development, orientation, and retention.

Burnout and compassion fatigue: prevalence and associations among Israeli burn clinicians

“…Spickard et al43 state that clinicians should engender resilience and emotional intelligence early in their training to ensure longevity of their career. Furthermore, instituting self-care practices that accommodate the uncertainties of a changing health care environment may affect the retention and recruitment of health practitioners 23,30,44…”

What is the impact of shift work on the psychological functioning and resilience of nurses? An integrative review

“…, Matos et al . , Kornhaber & Wilson , Manzano García & Carlos , Mealer et al . , Sawatzky & Enns , Hegney et al .…”

Resilience and the rehabilitation of adult spinal cord injury survivors: A qualitative systematic review

“…However, in a recent integrative review examining definitions of resilience, it was reported that there was “no universally accepted way of defining, quantifying or measuring resilience” (Aburn, Gott, & Hoare, , p. 994). Therefore, for this review, resilience is defined as the ability to bounce back from a traumatic or stressful experience and adapt flexibly to the changing demands (Kornhaber & Wilson, ) that result from a SCI. The characteristic of resilience is grounded in the relationship between the individual, their experiences and the surrounding environment (Gillespie, Chaboyer, & Wallis, ).…”

“…Connor and Davidson () viewed resilience as having the ability to successfully cope with adversity. For example, individuals who have witnessed or endured hardship, such as war (Ferguson, Sperber Richie, & Gomez, ), in an organization (Kornhaber & Wilson, ), or in a home environment (Anderson, Renner, & Danis, ) or the workplace (Mallak & Yildiz, ), have the potential to build resilience when social support and psychological stamina are harnessed. Resilience may be a key characteristic influencing the attitudes and responses of SCI survivors to their injury and rehabilitation although there is limited research in this area.…”