Factors contributing to the fostering of resilience among final-year nursing students in challenging situations: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, final-year nursing students in our country volunteered to join the healthcare workforce, and the challenges they faced were considerable. Aim: To explore the factors that foster resilience among final-year nursing students that joined the healthcare workforce during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: Descriptive qualitative study with thematic analysis. Participants: Newly graduated nurses who had volunteered to join the health workforce during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic as final-year bachelor of nursing students. Methods: Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted during January and February 2021. Interviews were conducted by nursing students as part of their final-year dissertation with the supervision of a researcher with experience on qualitative data collection methods. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts was performed using Weft QDA 1.0.1. Results: The analysis revealed two main themes that described newly graduated nurses views regarding the factors that had enabled them to develop resilience when working on the frontline as final-year nursing students: (1) factors that helped them cope with adversity related with the identification and use of personal resources, feeling supported from others and professional recognition; and (2) factors that promoted learning such as guided reflection and the opportunity to share peer experiences. Conclusion: The identification and use of personal resources, recognition and support from others, guided reflection and sharing peer experiences appear to be the key factors in helping nursing students develop resilience in the face of challenging situations. Promoting these factors in the context of nurse education programmes will help to ensure that future professionals are better prepared to deal with the challenges that nurses face in clinical practice in their early career.