Leadership Strategies to Support Mental Health Resilience in Healthcare– A Literature Review

Abstract

Effective and collaborative leadership strategies are essential for improving and maintaining healthcare worker mental health resilience. However, very few organizations provide such programming. Leadership Strategies to Support Mental Health Resilience in Healthcare Workers aims to examine existing literature on mental health resilience in healthcare workers, the impact of leadership, and effective leadership strategies to improve and maintain resilience. It will also assess common themes and limitations, as well as areas for future examination. This integrative literature review was conducted according to the adapted stages of Whittmore and Knalfs (2005) through a systematic search of electronic databases including Google Scholar and Proquest, which yielded a selection of 34 papers that were examined. The literature revealed themes of mental health resilience impairments, causes and impacts, impacts of leadership, and strategies of shared governance, resource allocation, and programming including employee assistance programs, peer support and debriefing. Recommendations are made for leaders and organizations to implement effective, collaborate strategies to improve resilience within healthcare.

Keywords: health care, health care worker, mental health, resilience, leadership, strategies, well-being, shared governance, resource allocation, peer support, employee assistance programming, debriefing, programming, support, wellness, organizations