Abstract
In a recent advisory (2022), the Surgeon General of the United States put forth a call to build a thriving healthcare workforce and address conditions contributing to burnout, citing the many detrimental effects on patient care and safety as well as the financial burden when burnout contributes to turnover. Given the physical, emotional, and intellectual demands of nursing practice, nursing professionals are at risk and the implications for healthcare delivery are significant. Acknowledging the innate stressors of providing healthcare it is the responsibility of leaders in the industry to mitigate burnout to sustain the workforce critical to healthcare in the United States.
The approach to burnout prevention must be multi-faceted with systems-oriented, organizational-level solutions. At the primary level, organizations are responsible to prevent burnout by addressing stressors that can be mediated by promoting safe environments supported by appropriate staffing, accessible resources, and operational support. Responsibility for the secondary and tertiary level interventions also lies with the healthcare system to incorporate burnout screening and treatment options in employee wellness programs.
At the primary level, organizations are responsible to focus on the individual workers: promoting development of tools to manage stress in a productive way that contributes to work-life meaning and joy. Resilience has been identified as a crucial characteristic contributing to the meaning of work-life. Understanding resilience and how to foster it in nurses will contribute to burnout prevention and consequently improve the quality of health care provided Americans. Resilience training has been identified as a valuable approach to retention of the workforce.
This project developed a resilience training program for newly licensed registered nurses (NLRN) to promote awareness of self-care behaviors and healthy responses to counteract stress and promote a culture of safety. The program teaching plan's content was evaluated by a panel of experts to establish individual and scale level validity. The program was introduced into the curriculum of an existing Nurse Residency Program seminar and training was completed by twenty-five participants. Using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, a statistically significant difference in reported resilience was evident after participation in resilience training. Introduction of resilience training in a nurse residency program positively impacts resilience development with potential to promote burnout prevention.
This project implemented a primary level intervention to prevent burnout by drawing attention to and promoting resiliency characteristics. Content of the teaching plan was drawn from sources studying resilience traits and characteristics that promote burnout prevention. The teaching plan incorporates focused strategies to develop the internal characteristics of emotional intelligence, self-regulation, self-care, mental agility, and optimism as well as strategies to capitalize on resources in the practice and professional environments. As a primary level intervention, this project demonstrates statistically significant effectiveness of resilience training for NLRN and can be used as a model for further program development with other nursing populations to support retention initiatives.
Notes
Presenter notes available in attached slide deck.
Reference list included in attached slide deck.
Sigma Membership
Kappa Delta
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Quantitative Research
Keywords:
Professional Burnout, Hardiness, Hardiness -- Education, Nursing Practice
Recommended Citation
Lynch, Maggie Doherty, "Development of a Resilience Training Program to Combat Burnout in Nursing Practice" (2026). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 118.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2024/presentations_2024/118
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Washington, DC, USA
Conference Year
2024
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-03-04
Development of a Resilience Training Program to Combat Burnout in Nursing Practice
Washington, DC, USA
In a recent advisory (2022), the Surgeon General of the United States put forth a call to build a thriving healthcare workforce and address conditions contributing to burnout, citing the many detrimental effects on patient care and safety as well as the financial burden when burnout contributes to turnover. Given the physical, emotional, and intellectual demands of nursing practice, nursing professionals are at risk and the implications for healthcare delivery are significant. Acknowledging the innate stressors of providing healthcare it is the responsibility of leaders in the industry to mitigate burnout to sustain the workforce critical to healthcare in the United States.
The approach to burnout prevention must be multi-faceted with systems-oriented, organizational-level solutions. At the primary level, organizations are responsible to prevent burnout by addressing stressors that can be mediated by promoting safe environments supported by appropriate staffing, accessible resources, and operational support. Responsibility for the secondary and tertiary level interventions also lies with the healthcare system to incorporate burnout screening and treatment options in employee wellness programs.
At the primary level, organizations are responsible to focus on the individual workers: promoting development of tools to manage stress in a productive way that contributes to work-life meaning and joy. Resilience has been identified as a crucial characteristic contributing to the meaning of work-life. Understanding resilience and how to foster it in nurses will contribute to burnout prevention and consequently improve the quality of health care provided Americans. Resilience training has been identified as a valuable approach to retention of the workforce.
This project developed a resilience training program for newly licensed registered nurses (NLRN) to promote awareness of self-care behaviors and healthy responses to counteract stress and promote a culture of safety. The program teaching plan's content was evaluated by a panel of experts to establish individual and scale level validity. The program was introduced into the curriculum of an existing Nurse Residency Program seminar and training was completed by twenty-five participants. Using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, a statistically significant difference in reported resilience was evident after participation in resilience training. Introduction of resilience training in a nurse residency program positively impacts resilience development with potential to promote burnout prevention.
This project implemented a primary level intervention to prevent burnout by drawing attention to and promoting resiliency characteristics. Content of the teaching plan was drawn from sources studying resilience traits and characteristics that promote burnout prevention. The teaching plan incorporates focused strategies to develop the internal characteristics of emotional intelligence, self-regulation, self-care, mental agility, and optimism as well as strategies to capitalize on resources in the practice and professional environments. As a primary level intervention, this project demonstrates statistically significant effectiveness of resilience training for NLRN and can be used as a model for further program development with other nursing populations to support retention initiatives.
Description
Participants will gain insight into the impact of burnout on nursing practice outcomes, appreciate resilience training as a primary intervention for burnout prevention, and relate the development of resilience to positive outcomes for nursing practice.