“What Is the Matter With Me?” or a “Badge of Honor”: Nurses’ Constructions of Resilience During Covid-19

Abstract

It has long been known that nursing work is challenging and has the potential for negative impacts. During the COVID-19 pandemic most nurses’ working landscapes altered dramatically and many faced unprecedented challenges. Resilience is a contested term that has been used with increasing prevalence in healthcare with health professionals encouraging a “tool-box” of stress management techniques and resilience-building skills. Drawing on narrative interview data ( n = 27) from the Impact of Covid on Nurses (ICON) qualitative study we examine how nurses conceptualized resilience during COVID-19 and the impacts this had on their mental wellbeing. We argue here that it is paramount that nurses are not blamed for experiencing workplace stress when perceived not to be resilient “enough,” particularly when expressing what may be deemed to be normal and appropriate reactions given the extreme circumstances and context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lived Experiences of Female Nurses with COVID-19 Deaths on Their Watch

“…The stoical engagement phenomenon observed among the participants supports the findings of recently published case studies on resilience [ 63 ]. Psychological resilience is an individual’s ability to cope with stressors or traumas and to recover quickly from crises [ 64 ].…”

“…Psychological resilience is an individual’s ability to cope with stressors or traumas and to recover quickly from crises [ 64 ]. A female nurse described her experience in attending psychologist sessions for nurses during the first wave of COVID-19 [ 63 ]. She stated that nurses, from her perspective, have a tendency toward stoicism and a can-do attitude, which is related to their professional pride.…”

“…Nurses have internalized the concept of resilience, which has had a detrimental effect on their mental health and kept them from receiving treatment when it was most necessary. The assumption that stoicism and resilience are interchangeable was widespread in a recently published study [ 63 ]. This might be due to stereotyped nursing feelings [ 65 ].…”

The impact of COVID‐19 on nurses (ICON) survey: Nurses' accounts of what would have helped to improve their working lives

“…This is likely also to affect the ability of nurses to provide empathic and caring support for patients. Recent work has also highlighted how nurses and midwives did not always feel safe to speak out about shortages of equipment or of staff, with some being told to stop speaking to the media (Conolly et al, 2022). Others have argued that the nursing voice nationally and internationally was 'on mute' and that TA B L E 3 Percentage of respondents citing each theme by sector where working organizations and governments were deaf to nurses' experiences and to the issues raised (Rasmussen et al, 2022).…”

Speaking up during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Nurses' experiences of organizational disregard and silence

“…Nursing as a profession has a long‐standing history and pride in getting on with things and in particular, being resilient despite adversity (Conolly et al, 2022). As such, silence can be seen as socialized acceptance or compliance.…”