Building Resilience: How Nurses Adapt and Thrive While Caring for Older Adults with Multimorbidity in Acute Healthcare Settings

Background: Caring for older adults with multimorbidity represents one of the most challenging aspects of contemporary nursing practice. While research has examined clinical outcomes and care models, limited attention has been given to how nurses develop resilience and adapt their professional practice to meet these complex care demands. This study aimed to examine how nurses build resilience and adapt their professional practice when caring for older adults with multimorbidity in acute care environments. Methods: This qualitative study employed in-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 registered nurses across general and specialized hospital settings. Data were analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis to understand the essence of nurses’ adaptation and resilience-building experiences. Results: Three superordinate themes emerged: (1) Professional evolution through complexity navigation, (2) Emotional resilience and meaning-making in challenging care situations, and (3) Collaborative networks as sources of strength and learning. Nurses demonstrated remarkable capacity for professional growth, developing sophisticated coping mechanisms and finding meaning in their challenging work. Conclusions: Nurses caring for older adults with multimorbidity undergo significant professional development, building resilience through experiential learning, peer support, and meaning-making processes, though these gains are accompanied by real emotional costs, including moral distress and exhaustion. Understanding these adaptation mechanisms is crucial for supporting nursing workforce sustainability and optimizing patient care quality.