Hardiness Theory

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It is of no surprise that many nurses who start working in the profession feel a sense of stress and burnout after working a long fast-paced shift in the hospital. The responsibility of making sure that every patient is receiving the highest level of care can be quite overwhelming when also being responsible for responding to the answers of concerned family members, receiving medical orders from doctors, delegating tasks to the patient care assistant, managing the pain of a trauma or post op patients, and ensuring the safety of a confused patient. Although this profession can be very satisfying, given that it involves helping patients in their most vulnerable state, the level of stress that nurses have to endure can be quite alarming. It is for this reason that many theorists have come into play when seeking to find a way to help individuals cope with difficult situations in the workplace. Susan Kobasa’s non-nursing theory known as Hardiness Theory, has been incorporated into a nursing theory when seeking to help nurses deal with the stresses of the profession (Henderson, 2015).

The theory of hardiness states that individuals must possess all three hardy attitudes, commitment, control, and challenge, in order to withstand any difficult life or professional situation and must learn how to turn any negative experience into an opportunity for personal and professional growth (Henderson, 2015). Commitment, being the first component of the theory of hardiness states that an individual must be active in every situation that comes in the way. In other words, the individual must never ignore the problem, but must instead be a participant in problem solving (Henderson, 2015). Control, is when an individual believes that his/her actions can result in a positive or negative outcome. The person has a sense of power over the situation (Henderson, 2015). Lastly, challenge is when an individual accepts the difficulties that comes along and uses them as opportunities to become a stronger and wiser (Henderson, 2015).

The components of this theory have been incorporated into a nursing theory because it has been used to provide nurses with effective strategies to manage the ongoing stresses that they face in the workplace. The humanistic nursing theory also includes the concept of authentic commitment, which means the nurse is actively present both personally and professionally in the decisions that are made when caring for a patient (George, 2011). It is highly important to implement the components of the theory presented because it serves as a tool to help reduce the incidence of developing any physical or mental illness (Henderson, 2015).


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