Nurse leaders' strategies to foster nurse resilience

Aim To identify nurse leaders' strategies to cultivate nurse resilience. Background High nursing turnover rates and nursing shortages are prominent phenomena in health care. Finding ways to promote nurse resilience and reduce nurse burnout is imperative for nursing leaders. Methods This is a qualitative descriptive study that occurred from November 2017 to June 2018. This study explored strategies to foster nurse resilience from nurse leaders who in this study were defined as charge nurses, nurse managers and nurse executives of a tertiary hospital in the United States. A purposive sampling method was used to have recruited 20 nurse leaders. Results Seven strategies are identified to cultivate nurse resilience: facilitating social connections, promoting positivity, capitalizing on nurses' strengths, nurturing nurses' growth, encouraging nurses' self-care, fostering mindfulness practice and conveying altruism. Conclusions Fostering nurse resilience is an ongoing effort. Nurse leaders are instrumental in building a resilient nursing workforce. The strategies identified to foster nurse resilience will not only impact the nursing staff but also improve patient outcomes. Implications for Nursing Management The strategies presented are simple and can be easily implemented in any settings. Nurse leaders have an obligation to model and enable evidence-based strategies to promote nurses' resilience.