Nursing Students’ Resilience and Intent to Work at the Bedside

AIM The primary purpose of this study was to explore relationships between self-efficacy, peer support, coping style, intent to work at the bedside, and resilience in nursing students. BACKGROUND Resilience correlates with one-year retention at the bedside. Retention of bedside nurses improves patient outcomes. METHOD A quantitative, correlational design determined relationships between variables. Surveys were completed by 205 participants. Surveys included a program type list, intent to work at the bedside items, the Brief Cope Scale, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Peer Group Caring Interaction Scale. RESULTS Significant relationships were found between resilience and self-efficacy, resilience and coping style, and peer support and approach coping style. Half of the respondents intended to work at the bedside for two years after graduation. Self-efficacy and avoidance coping were resilience predictors. CONCLUSION To support resilience, educators should facilitate students’ development of self-efficacy and approach coping style.