Improving Resiliency Among Inpatient Nursing Teams During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

Abstract

Resiliency and grit are two words that describe today's nursing team members amid the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Registered Nurses (RNs) and Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) have been on the frontline battling a pandemic that knows no bounds, takes no prisoners, and does not discriminate. Through the battle, nursing teams are pushed to work in unprecedented environments caring for the sickest patients of their careers. Over time, the nursing team may exhibit signs of compassion fatigue, burnout, and a decrease in their overall well-being; ultimately, leading to turnover in healthcare organizations. The purpose of the project was to improve resiliency and grit among nurses and nursing assistants on an inpatient Internal Medicine Pulmonary unit (IPU) during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic by employing daily huddle activities, interactions with pastoral care liaisons in-person or virtually, and smartphone apps to promote self-care and mindfulness training. The goal of the project was to increase the mean resiliency scores by 5% with the utilization strategies described above. The Connor-Davidson Resilience (CD-RISC-10©) 10-item scale was sent to the nursing team members to complete pre- and post-project implementation. A resiliency activity was introduced weekly at huddle meetings during the 12 week period. The nursing team members were encouraged to interact with pastoral care liaisons either in-person or virtually and to select a smartphone app to promote self-care and mindfulness. There was an overall increase in the total CD-RISC-10© score to 6.7%, which met the project goal. Nursing team members demonstrated an increase in utilizing the daily huddle activities.