Table 1 Summary of the included studies

A1

Mealer et al., 2012/USA

Qualitative study

To identify mechanisms employed by highly resilient ICU nurses to develop preventative therapies to obviate the development of PTSD in ICU nurses

27, (27:0)

mean: 46

Total: mean18.5

Intensive Care Unit

Semi-structured telephone interviews

Thematic analysis

80%

A2

Shimoinaba et al., 2015/Japan

Qualitative study

To explore the nature of nurses’ resilience and the way it is developed

18, (18:0)

29–53 mean: 37.8

Total: 7–26

In this department: 2–8, mean37.8

Palliative Care Unit

Face to face in-depth interviews

Grounded theory

80%

A3

Cope et al., 2016/Australia

Qualitative portraiture methodology

To explore residential aged care nurses working in interim, rehabilitation and residential aged care perceptions of resilience

3,(not reported),

32–57

Total: mean28

An aged care environment

Semi-structured interviews painting with words

Thematic analysis

70%

A4

Cope et al., 2016 (2) /Australia

Qualitative portraiture methodology

To explore why nurses chose to remain in the Western Australian workforce; to develop insights into the role of resilience of nurses to manage the context of nursing work; and, to identify the key characteristics of resilience displayed by those nurses

9,(not reported)

Not reported

Not reported

Interim and residential aged care, academic setting, tertiary acute care setting

Individual interviews, field notes,

memos and gesture drawings interviews

Phenomenology

70%

A5

Tubbert, 2016/USA

Qualitative study

To explore the resiliency characteristics of certified emergency nurses

16 (68.8%:31.2%)

Mean: 50

Total: 30 In this department: 20

Emergency department

Face to face interview

Content analysis

80%

A6

Benade et al., 2017/South Africa

Explorative descriptive qualitative research

To explore and describe the strengths and coping abilities of nurses caring for older persons and to formulate recommendations to strengthen their resilience

43 (43:0)

Not reported

Total: not reported

In this department: < 6 month: 2

1 year < 5 years: 5

5 years < 10 years: 4

> 10 years: 27

Aged care department in an urban environment

Focus group interview

Content analysis

70%

A7

Marie et al., 2017/UK

Interpretive qualitative design

To observe and describe the environment within community mental health workplaces, to explore the challenges facing Palestinian community mental health nurses (CMHNs) inside and outside their workplaces, and to examine their sources of resilience

15 (8:7)

24–60

Not reported

Mental health workplace

Face-to-face in depth interviews

Thematic analysis

80%

A8

Prosser et al., 2017/Canada

Interpretative phenomenological method

To understand how registered nurses in the acute psychiatric setting develop resilience to sustain his or her practice.

4(not reported)

Not reported

Total: 2–21

In this department: 2–16

Acute psychiatric units

Semi-structured face-to- face interview

Interpretative phenomenological analysis.

90%

A9

Wahab et al., 2017/Singapore

descriptive qualitative design using Photovoice

To explore the new graduate nurses’ accounts of resilience and the facilitating and impeding factors in building their resilience

9 (6:3)

Mean: 24

Total: mean 1

In this department: not reported

Oncology, General Medicine, General Surgery, Psychiatry and Paediatric wards

Focus group interview, photographs

Content analysis

80%

A10

Imani et al., 2018/Iran

Phenomenology study

To explore Iranian hospital nurses’ lived experiences of intelligent resilience

10 (4:6)

34–52

Total: 11–28

In this department: not reported

Different types of wards

In-depth interview

The Colaizzi’s (1978) seven-step approach

70%

A11

Jackson et al., 2018/UK

Grounded theory

To better understand nurse burnout and resilience in response to workplace adversity in critical care

11 (11:0),

20s:5, 30s:3, 40s:1, 50s:2

Total: 4–36

In this department: not reported

Intensive care unit

Open-ended interviews

Grounded theory

90%

A12

Ramalisa et al., 2018/South Africa

Empirical qualitative research

To explore and describe how to strengthen the resilience of nurses in a work environment with involuntary mental health care users.

24(not reported)

Not reported

Total: 2–8

In this department: not reported

Psychiatric ward

Open-ended interview

Thematic analysis

80%

A13

Ang et al., 2019/Singapore

Qualitative grounded theory design

To generate a comprehensive account of the experiences of nurses as they cope with stress and demands of work, and to develop knowledge of the phenomenon of resilience among nurses.

15 (15:3),

24–68 mean:38

Not reported

General hospital

Individual interviews

Glaserian constant comparison method

80%

A14

Ang et al., 2019 (2)/Singapore

Photovoice study

To explore the meaning of resilience to nurses and their perceived resilience enhancing factors

8 (7:1)

27–68

Not reported

Accident and emergency department

Focus group interview, photo

Content analysis

80%

A15

Lin et al., 2019/Taiwan

Construction-grounded theory

To explore and understand the experiences of resilience among nurses in an overcrowded emergency department (ED)

13 (13:0)

23–39

Total: not reported

In this department: 2–17

Emergency department

In-depth interview

Construction-grounded theory

90%

A16

Udod et al., 2021/Canada

Qualitative study

To investigate the role stressors, and how coping strategies cultivated nurse managers’ resilience in rural workplaces.

16 (15:1)

30s: 5

40s:9

Over 60:2

Total: mean4.6, 10–35

In this department: mean 7.28, 1–17

Rural site in western Canada

Individual semi-structured interview

Thematic analysis

80%