Commentary: Nursing issues
Nurses’ resilience depends on organisational, personal and team factors and can be maintained through strategies and interventions across all these levels 10.1136/ebnurs-2025-104344
Commentary The paper provides a comprehensive update which confirms that there is a reduction in an individual’s resilience when nurses are experiencing exhaus- tion, negative psychological states, for example, anxiety, depression, stress and work challenges, concurring with other reviews. 2 Findings highlight the growth in knowledge relating to nurses’ resilience. 2 3 Due to the meta- analysis method chosen by the authors, and the concise narrative oversight, the findings may have omitted smaller insights from included papers. There is also a dominance of Asian-based studies, potentially limiting relevance to some work environments. Useful findings include increased recognition of the workplace as a factor influencing an individual’s resilience. Demographic factors such as employment relationships, impact of COVID-19 on an individual’s circum- stances, workplace locations, work challenges and environmental factors such as violence, bullying, improper practice, an individual’s perception of job demands and resources play a part in a nurse’s resilience. Although there were no conclusive findings, the paper 1 brings into focus the impor- tance of the work environment and its impact on nurses’ resilience. The continued recognition of positivity, to counter the negative and causative factors associated with the need for resilience, is highlighted. Positivity has many similarities with the basis of nursing practice, such as integrity, empathy, courage, kindness, gratitude, forgiveness, humanity, wisdom and knowledge, which originate from humanistic philosophy. 4 5 In determining positive attributes nurses possess for delivering care, this paper brings into focus how positivity should be fostered throughout a nurse’s career to maintain individual resilience. One factor highlighted was the key role that leaders may play in promoting nurses’ resilience in the workplace. Findings suggest that leaders who are viewed as ethical and transformational are considered integral to promoting positivity and mitigating workplace challenges. Behaviours such as recognising work performance, facilitating job satisfaction, promoting career development, being engaged with others and creating social and organisational support were identified as core leadership influences. This review supports the call for organisational nurse leaders to adopt trans- formational leadership attributes and capabilities. 6 Yet it also poses a new question, on how teams within the work environment contribute to positive transformational cultures, where individuals’ resilience may be fostered. Concurring with Cooper et al 3 paper, which asks: what are the responsibil- ities of teams to build and create positive, supportive and transformational cultures, which will assist in fostering resilience? This paper suggests that all nurses should start considering how to develop cohesive team approaches which sustain lifelong resilience. Competing interests None declared. Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2026. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ Group. References 1 Yu F , Raphael D, Mackay L, et al . Personal and work-related factors associated with nurse resilience: An updated systematic review using meta-analysis and narrative synthesis. Int J Nurs Stud 2025;166. 2 Castillo-González A , Velando-Soriano A, De La Fuente-Solana EI, et al . Relation and effect of resilience on burnout in nurses: A literature review and meta-analysis. Int Nurs Rev 2024;71:160–7. 3 Cooper AL , Leslie GD, Brown JA. Defining the influence of external factors on nurse resilience. Int J Ment Health Nurs 2022;31:1523–33. 4 Rogers C . Client-centered therapy: its current practice, implications and theory . London: Constable Robinson, 2003. 5 Maslow A . Motivation and personality . 2nd edn. New York: Harper & Row, 1970. 6 ANA Nursing resources Hub . What is transformational leadership in nursing. 2023. Available: https://www.nursingworld.org/content-hub/resources/nursing-leadership/ transformational-leadership-in-nursing/
Elizabeth Cooper School of Nursing, Public Health and Healthcare Leadership, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK
Correspondence to: Dr Elizabeth Cooper; ecooper3@bradford.ac.uk
Commentary on : Yu F, Raphael D, Mackay L, et al . Personal and work-related factors associated with nurse resilience: An updated systematic review using meta-analysis and narrative synthesis. Int J Nurs Stud 2025;166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2025. 105054.
Implications for practice and research
► Organisations and leaders need to continue to focus on how teams can create a positive workplace, free from bullying and harassment, and where nurses are prepared for work, have positive relationships and are encouraged to develop professionally. ► Research studies which focus on workplaces in the UK and Europe are required to address the current gap in available papers. Context The paper 1 addresses a critical issue in global healthcare: the resilience of nurses amid increasing job demands, workforce shortages and the unprec- edented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Resilience is framed as a protective personal factor against burnout, stress and turnover, which are major threats to healthcare systems worldwide. Methods This paper 1 describes a thorough approach to undertaking a systematic review following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The researchers accessed research papers from key databases: CINAHL, MEDLINE (Ovid), PsycINFO, EMBASE and Scopus (January–February 2024), with clear eligibility and exclusion criteria applied and using a validated tool. 1 The results from a meta-analysis of quantitative resilience scales are presented, with an accompanying narra- tive providing a clear amalgamation of the review findings into themes. Findings The review focused on two areas: the association between demographic factors and resilience and a synthesis of job demand and resource factors. The authors 1 provide a nuanced understanding of resilience in nursing, highlighting its multidimensional nature and the interplay between personal attributes and workplace factors. It underscores the urgency of resilience-building interventions to sustain the nursing workforce and improve healthcare quality.
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Evid Based Nurs Month 2026 | volume 0 | number 0 |
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