Urology nurses’ personal wellbeing: Strategies and insights to developing your resilience

Wellbeing and resilience are global concerns for all working in healthcare. Montgomery & Patrician (2020) and Kinman et al (2020) identify that nurses’ wellbeing and resilience are impacted significantly more than the general population. In the United Kingdom a study found that approximately 44.8% of healthcare staff feel unwell due to work related stress and that many healthcare workers continue to work despite feeling unwell (National Health Service 2022).

In urology, Pang et al (2021) found that 54% of European urologists reported burnout, with American Urologists reporting burnout of up to 68%. De Hert (2020) suggests urology is in the top 3 specialities for burnout which Love (2022) suggests is partially due to the continual expectations for increased knowledge and professional skills. Love (2022) also found high nurse turnover rates and reduced workplace satisfaction in urology. Jarosz et al (2022) correlate this finding in their study of Polish urology nurse’s which found they have low job satisfaction and high fatigue levels. If these challenges in urology are to be addressed individuals and employers MUST invest in factors to increase job satisfaction and reduce burnout.

As nurses, we provide compassionate, patient-centred care. This means we are all at high risk of compassion fatigue unless we ensure we care for our own wellbeing and increase our resilience. Cooper et al (2020) identified that building our personal resilience and increasing compassion satisfaction can protect us from burnout and compassion fatigue. Maslach (1981) burnout indicators are still viewed as the gold standard for measuring burnout. It features the 3 scales of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment. Considering these signs may be helpful in recognising if you are experiencing burnout. If you are, it is time to act by
seeking support.

To combat burnout and compassion fatigue, consider how your emotional wellbeing (EWB) is. Park et al (2023) define EWB as a multi-dimensional term which encompasses how positive we feel about life overall and generally. EWB includes both experiential features (emotional quality of momentary and your everyday experiences), reflective features (judgments about life satisfaction, sense of meaning), and your ability to pursue goals that can include and extend beyond yourself. Your EMW occurs in the context of your culture, life circumstances, resources, and your life journey.

Parks et al (2023) recognise the following components as important in your EMW:

  • Good support networks
  • Effective coping skills
  • Commitment to self-care
  • Problem-solving skills
  • Commitment to professional values
  • Work-life balance
  • Self-awareness
  • Self-efficacy
  • Reflective ability
  • Optimism
  • Social confidence
  • Sense of humour

Like EMB, physical wellbeing is paramount to consider. Simply speaking, it is about caring for and respecting your body. It includes maintaining a healthy approach to life that allows you to get the most out of life. Most of us will be familiar with components of physical wellbeing which impact our day to day lives such as sleep, nutrition, hydration, exercise and relaxation.

Spiritual wellbeing is talked about less but is also important when considering burnout. I suggest it is what brings us hope, meaning and purpose (Rogers & Wattis 2020). Spiritual wellbeing relates to the way we live and perceive the world around us. Nurses who have a higher level of spiritual wellbeing are more likely to be more resilient and better able to tolerate psychological and physical stress. Increased spiritual wellbeing increases job satisfaction.

Addressing emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing all increase our resilience which is a dynamic process where we develop our resources to cope with and learn from adversity (Grafton et al., 2010). However, the onus isn’t all on us individually, our employers and the organisations we work for have a role in supporting our resilience by creating a working environment that protects the emotional wellbeing of us all (World Health Organisation 2019, Royal College of Nursing 2020).

We also have the responsibility to support our personal resilience, and you can do this by considering what matters to you and why you matter. This might be your work, your family, your friends, or something else. We can build positive beliefs in our abilities – think about why you make a difference. How you have a positive impact. We need to develop and nurture our social networks as well as ourselves. Also important, is to develop your problem-solving skills, try to be solution focused and establish goals in your day to day work. If there are specific problems, don’t just find the solution, but also act on it (Walker 2020).

There are differing types of resilience including:

  • Natural resilience – This is the resilience you are born with and the resilience that comes naturally. This is your human nature and your life force.
  • Adaptive resilience – This could also be called ‘trial by fire’. This occurs when challenging circumstances force you to learn to change and adapt, and you grow stronger as a result.
  • Restored resilience – Also known as learnt resilience. This is where you learn techniques to build resilience (Walker, 2020).

Take time to care for your wellbeing and develop your resilience. This will help you personally and professionally.

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Prof. Melanie Rogers, Advanced practice and spirituality, University of Huddersfield (GB)