A Reflection on the Trait of Resilience and Its Use in the Nursing Reflective Essay using Driscoll’s reflective cycle Field

As a nursing student, there are many different topics and titles that I have come across. These topics and titles have made me learn and look at nursing as a practice in a specific perspective. In this reflective essay, I chose to write about the title of ‘Resilience.’ It is a popular notion that being a nurse is a demanding profession that requires a lot of determination, hard work, and sacrifice. Sometimes being a nurse can be so tiring and frustrating especially in a busy working environment. The stress is caused by long working hours that take away the resting time needed to refresh a nurse’s mind and body. To deal with the stressful life and to allow nurses to live a fulfilled life then resilience is what is needed. Resilience is the remedy that allows people to deal with stress and live a fulfilled life.

By reading and looking at the title “Resilience,’ I feel motivated, empowered and confident of achieving my goals in life including in school and later in my working place. Resilience is a skill that people need to learn to feel empowered to achieve their goals in life. It is a skill that I easy to learn and can be used in different aspects of our lives. As I read the title, I feel like it is a skill that I need to have to go through my education and eventually become successful as a nurse later in life. What comes to my mind when I read about resilience is growth and success.

Resilience is defined as the ability to come back from adversity and use the adversity to grow. In this case, it is relevant to note what is classified as adversity. Illness, loss, stress, disaster or challenging conditions are adversities (Rushton et al. 2015) Resilience in nursing is not only associated with nurses but also to the way patients positively adjust to illnesses. Resilience is attached t the theory of attachment that was developed by John Bowlby in 1951. According to the attachment theory, there is an early establishment of a bond between children and their parents. According to the theory when there is a strong and good bond between a child and their parent then the child grows to be confident and has a strong sense of security that plays an imperative role when it comes to facing adversity, separation and challenges later in life.

Resilience has four essentials that include a surplus of love that is accumulated in childhood, satisfaction of needs, a defense mechanism which is importance for dealing with adversity and a caring hand that helps a person to survive and grow. Resilience individuals have some specific personality that makes them be classified as resilient. Psychologists have found out that there are personalities that are prone to resilience. It is further believed that these personalities are responsible for guiding an individual from behaving defiantly.

Self- esteem is one of the personalities. I can relate to this because I have a high self-esteem and sometimes can be mistaken for arrogance, but it helps me express myself and always believe I can find a solution to a problem. Confidence, hope, and optimism are other personalities related to individual prone to resilience. Most resilient people have an aptitude for self- development. Personally I believe that my constant hope for a better future for my family and me is what pushes me to want to improve myself and develop constantly. When I think about my family and what I have been through I, continue to find ways that I can develop myself into a better perform.

I believe that after reading the above articles and different kinds of literature on resilience I have learned that people behave the way they do for different reasons. In the future I know I might face patients that might be going through a difficult time, and I will need to help them. The first thing that I will do is to understand clearly the patient. Through understanding, I will be able to set my next plan. The second step is to ensure that I find the best way that will help them cope with their situation. Depending on if the patient is a child on an adult I would recommend methods of coping. If the patient is a child, I would recommend they built characters and personalities that will make them resilient in future.

Gillespie et al. (2009) carried out a study on the influence of personal characteristics on the resilience of operating room nurses. Through the use of a predictive method that saw the collection of data from 1430 nurses, the study concluded that as far operating rooms were concerned, resilience were predicted by other attributes and not only the personal characteristics.

The study also recommended that when selecting personnel for operating rooms it does not mean only experienced nurses can thrive but also young and less experienced nurses can thrive if they are supported. McCann et al. (2013) reviewed several kinds of literature that discussed resilience.

In their article, several conclusions were made including the conclusion that between nurses and social workers, nurses who chose to use avoidance as a coping method reported higher job stress than their counterparts. Furthermore, the social workers were concluded to be better at choosing coping methods than the workers. This review also looked at doctors and resilience and concluded that there are specific resilient qualities found in doctors. One quality of resilience they interact positively with patients.

I had envisioned my future as far as practicing nursing is concerned, and I must admit that after this reflection my vision has changed. My future practicing has changed in the sense that I now know more about resilience. Especially what it means and how a person can develop to be resilient and what personalities relate to resilience. Furthermore, I believe that in my future practicing I may also face adversity. Knowing more about being resilience will make me a better person and nurse which is important to ensure I succeed in future. This reflection has increased my knowledge of the title that has made me more conscious when it comes to encouraging others and learning to appreciate people around me.

In conclusion, the title of ‘Resilience’ has made me feel like I should not give up in life and my nursing education and practice. I have learned that resilience is mostly connected with childhood bond to parents which makes an individual grow up with high self-esteem, become confident and can deal with adversity. The articles that I have read on resilience have made me learn more about coping and different qualities that individuals who are resilient posses. I hope to be a better practitioner in the future because of what I have learned so far about resilience.