Social support improves nurses’ resilience: a cross-sectional study in Greece

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundSince nursing job is perceived as personally and professionally demanding, internal resources such as resilience and coping skills are essential to improve nurses’ health and wellbeing and therefore work productivity and quality of patient care.ObjectiveTo assess the effect of social support on nurses’ resilience. Moreover, we investigated the impact of demographic characteristics of nurses on their resilience.MethodsWe conducted an on-line cross-sectional study in Greece. Data were collected during October 2022. We used the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support to measure social support, and the Brief Resilience Scale to measure resilience. We measured the following demographic characteristics of nurses: gender, age, self-perceived health status, COVID-19 diagnosis, MSc/PhD diploma, and clinical experience.ResultsStudy population included 963 nurses with a mean age of 37.9 years. Nurses experienced moderate levels of resilience and high levels of social support. Multivariable linear regression analysis identified that increased significant others support and increased friends support were associated with increased resilience. Moreover, we found a positive relationship between age and resilience. Also, nurses with good/very good health had higher levels of resilience compared to nurses with very poor/poor/moderate health. Finally, resilience was higher among nurses with MSc/PhD diploma.ConclusionsWe found a positive relationship between social support and resilience among nurses. Understanding of factors that influence nurses’ resilience can add invaluable knowledge to develop and establish tailored programs. Peer support is essential to improve nurses’ resilience and promote patient healthcare.