Proceedings of the 8th World Conference on Qualitative Research

Introduction: Significant nursing workforce shortfalls will be realized in the current decade. Nursing students often fall short of program completion, finding themselves unprepared for high academic and related clinical expectations, along with emotional and psychological demands of nursing education. Resilience is recognized among the essential curriculum and expected student competencies. However, existing evidence of resilience may not adequately represent current Generation Z students.
Goals & Methods: The goal was to explore the meaning and process of the lived experience of resilience among 13 third- and fourth-year Generation Z baccalaureate nursing students. A qualitative approach, underpinned by Heideggarian hermeneutic interpretive phenomenology, guided study design and methods. Data collection tools included a survey aimed at demographic and contextual factors connected to resilience, open response feedback, and interviews with a conversational guide based upon study questions. The hermeneutic circle process integrated with interpretative phenomenological analysis informed data analysis.
Results: Three resilience themes among Generation Z participants were revealed, with sub-themes. The first theme, Maneuvering the Murky Water, emerged as the lived experience of resilience among participants. The second theme, This Can Either Ruin me or I Can Keep Moving With it, emerged as the meaning of resilience among participants. The third theme, the process of resilience within the context of nursing education, became visible as seven interconnected concepts. Open response results provided reflective insights and recommendations concerning resilience. Some participants shared the realization of experiencing more resilience than they were aware of, in life and nursing education. Other participants shared recommendations for supporting resilience within nursing programs, such as offering financial advisement and consistent academic tutoring.
Conclusions: Nursing students require resilience to graduate from education programs and successfully enter practice. The results of this study can be used to better understand Generation Z students’ individual and generational perspectives of resilience to support them.