Summary
Resilience has been suggested as an important coping strategy for nurses working in
demanding settings, such as paediatric oncology. This qualitative study explored paediatric
oncology nurses’ perceptions of their development of resilience and how this resilience
underpinned their ability to deal with work-related stressors. Five paediatric oncology
nurses were interviewed about their understanding of the concept of resilience, their
preferred coping mechanisms, and their day-today work in paediatric oncology.
Using thematic analysis, the interviews were subsequently grouped together into seventeen
initial themes. These themes were then grouped into seven major aspects that described
how the participants perceived resilience underpinned their work. These “seven aspects
of forming resilience” contributed to an initial understanding of how paediatric oncology
nurses develop resilience in the face of their personal and professional challenges.
Several key strategies derived from the findings, such as improved rostering, support
to a nurse's friend and family, and a clinical support nursing role, could be implemented
at an organizational level to support resilience development within the paediatric
oncology setting.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 27, 2012
Accepted:
February 8,
2012
Received in revised form:
December 4,
2011
Received:
August 29,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
