This paper examines how organizational nursing theory — specifically Laura Polk's 1997 Theory of Resilience — should influence nursing practice and professional culture. The paper explores resilience as a concept rooted in psychology and increasingly studied across diverse populations, connecting it to key nursing concerns such as sustainability, collegiate preparation, burnout reduction, and evidence-based practice. The author argues that a strong organizational culture of resilience is essential for helping nurses cope with the high-stress realities of their profession, and that this foundation must be built into nursing education before students enter clinical settings.
This paper offers insight and informed perspective on how nurses should be influenced by organizational nursing theory. Specifically, it cites Polk's Theory of Resilience to address this question. The dimensions of influence examined include whether the theory is compelling to other professionals, whether it promotes sustainability, how it relates to collegiate nursing, how it influences the profession itself, how it shapes culture, and how it can lead to meaningful change in the nursing industry overall. While organizational theory can sometimes devolve into abstract speculation, there are many theories and ideas within the nursing paradigm that deserve to be taken seriously.
Before addressing the questions above, it is important to first examine Laura Polk's Theory of Resilience. As presented in March 1997, the theory centers on the idea that "the ability to transform disaster into a growth experience and move forward defines the concept of resilience" (Polk, 1997). Polk further explains that "nursing is concerned with individuals in this process of moving through adversity and with its own contribution to the process" (Polk, 1997).
A complementary source addressing the same topic reached similar conclusions. As outlined by Earvolino-Ramirez, the purpose of that research was to "analyze the concept of resilience and provide a definition of resilience that is contextually independent of specific age-related groups or populations." The findings indicated that resilience is being studied in increasingly "innovative" ways and across a diverse range of populations. However, the author also noted that the definition of resilience has evolved over the years as research has advanced. The term itself has firm roots in psychology and related disciplines — there is, after all, the longstanding observation that children are known to be resilient in the face of challenges and struggles (Earvolino-Ramirez, 2007).
Based on the research above, the intersection of organizational theory in a nursing context and the concept of resilience is clearly important when it comes to performing effectively as a nurse. Nursing is a high-stress field that routinely involves failure, loss, and difficult outcomes. Mistakes are made, patients die, and hard lessons must be learned. People who lack resilience simply cannot cope with events and outcomes of this nature. As such, resilience is something that nurses should — and must — develop if they are to remain effective and professionally attuned, particularly in response to adverse events involving patients or the workplace more broadly.
"How culture sustains resilience across nursing teams"
"Instilling resilience principles in nursing students pre-practice"
Earvolino-Ramirez, M. (2007). Resilience: A concept analysis. Nursing Forum, 42(2), 73–82. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6198.2007.00070.x
Polk, L. (1997). Toward a middle-range theory of resilience. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9055026
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