Research on human resilience has attempted to uncover how certain individuals, even
when faced with adverse working conditions can bounce back without serious
psychological harm and continue their development. There is a paucity of information
on the concept resilience as it pertains to professional nurses. Relevant information in
this regard can equip nurses who are fleeing the profession, or who are becoming
physically or mentally ill because they are not coping. Information on the prevalence
of resilience in professional nurses and a better understanding of the coping skills and
resilient adaptations of identified resilient professional nurses can lead to the
formulation of guidelines with strategies for interventions that can facilitate growth in
professional nurses and be of benefit to the health care service.
This research investigated the prevalence of resilience in professional nurses and
listened to the stories of identified resilient professional nurses in order to get a better
understanding of their coping skills and resilient adaptations. The data was used to
formulate broad guidelines with specific strategies that can be used by hospital
managers for in-service training purposes and other programs to facilitate growth in
professional nurses. The research was conducted in South Africa amongst nurses in
private and public hospitals in the following suburban areas: Potchefstroom,
Carletonvi1le, Randfontein and Krugersdorp.
A sequential exploratory design was used where one phase is followed by another
phase: the first phase was quantitative research conducted with validated
psychometric instruments measuring aspects of resilience, namely: The Mental Health
Continuum, The Coping Self-efficacy Scale, Sense of Coherence Scale, The Adult
Dispositional Hope Scale. The Life Orientation Test-Revised, The Resilience Scale,
and The General Health Questionnaire. The second phase was qualitative and
explored the stories of the resilient professional nurses by requesting them to write
their stories on how they manage to stay resilient and compassionate in the profession
followed by focus group interviews also with resilient nurses.
The prevalence of resilience in the professional nurses in the first phase indicated the
following: 10% with low resilience, 47% as moderate and 43 % with high resilience, but with mostly negative feelings toward the profession and with many considering
leaving their current job. The stories followed by focus group interviews with resilient
professional nurses produced useful data that could be used to formulate guidelines
with strategies for interventions to facilitate and enhance resilience and psycho-social
well-being in professional nurses thereby improving the nursing profession and health
care service overall. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/8326 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Koen, Magdalena Petronella |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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