ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Resilience assists healthcare professionals in negotiating challenges, remaining positive when experiencing adversity, and in constructively dealing with difficult work situations and environments. There is increasing research about how early career healthcare professionals, understand and maintain resilience but little is known about support early career pharmacists may need and value. AIMS: To explore early career pharmacists' understanding of resilience, their strategies to enhance and maintain resilience as healthcare professionals and to identify resilience-fostering programmes they perceive could be implemented to support them. METHODS: Three focus groups and 12 semi-structured interviews with a total of 15 hospital pharmacists and 10 community pharmacists (both less than 3 years post-registration) were conducted. An inductive thematic analysis of transcripts was performed to identify main themes and subthemes. RESULTS: Pharmacists understood resilience as the capability to adapt to and learn from challenges and setbacks, which they can build through experience and exposure. Resilience in the workplace was challenged by their working environment and workload, which could lead to ego depletion, the transition from intern to registered pharmacist and working during the COVID-19 pandemic, which both added pressure and uncertainty to their role. Professional resilience was supported on individual, social and organisational levels and through self-care strategies. Pharmacists perceived mentorship and sharing experiences, experiential placements and constructive but challenging role play as potentially beneficial in building resilience during undergraduate studies and internship. DISCUSSION: Pharmacists defined resilience constructively and identified challenges testing but also strategies supporting their resilience in the workplace. Workplaces can support pharmacists by monitoring workload and workplace relationships, creating opportunities for peer and mentor support and by allowing pharmacists to implement their personal, individualised resilience maintaining strategies. Early career pharmacists' experiences and insights would be valuable when considering the design and implementation of resilience-fostering programmes.
ABSTRACT
Developing grit, motivation, and resilience within the pharmacy workforce has become a topic of increasing interest, heightened by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Even prior to the global pandemic, the health care field has been associated with a rapidly changing, challenging, and pressured work environment that can often lead to stress and burnout. Developing resilience in health care workers has been identified as a strategy to combat burnout by improving their ability to thrive in stressful situations, thus enhancing physical and mental well-being. In this commentary, we consider the use of a resilience framework that encompasses the overlapping attributes of emotional balance and physical and mental strength to develop resilience. The importance of finding purpose and meaning is also explored within the framework, as well as the association between grit, motivation, autonomy, mastery, and connection. Practical strategies and reflections are outlined to challenge, inspire, and motivate the development of grit and resilience, in order to combat the challenges faced by pharmacists in a constantly changing health care system.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Maintaining self-motivation during challenging times can be difficult. In this commentary, we consider self-determination theory to explore factors that can influence intrinsic motivation to progress scholarly work. The place of extrinsic motivation is also considered, on the continuum of self-determination. COMMENTARY: Using the components of self-determination theory, autonomy, mastery, and connection; academics, clinicians, and students, working in different environments, were asked to provide personal experiences and perspectives on their ability to maintain motivation during the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Self-assessment questions were used to guide reflections. IMPLICATIONS: Motivation, and in particular intrinsic motivation, can be impacted negatively during challenging times. Using a motivation framework can help identify personal factors that can be strengthened and developed over time. It is recognised that extrinsic factors are important in maintaining motivation. However, intrinsic motivation is a powerful driver to sustain and progress high quality work. Practical strategies and ideas are described to harness and develop self-motivation to pursue scholarly work, during challenging times.