Resilience and vulnerability indicators of health care workers in geriatric medical centers amid cumulative adversity: The role of morale

Coping with cumulative adversity may lead to emerging vulnerability, diminished resilience, and negative psychological consequences. In an organizational framework, personal vulnerability may affect institutional resilience. This study examined resilience and vulnerability indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic and other stressors (e.g. terror) among employees at geriatric medical centers and identified potential protective resources. Data were collected from 283 employees from various sectors (mostly health professionals including physicians, nurses and allied health professions). The questionnaire assessed background variables, resilience indicators (personal resilience, morale, well-being, sense of security), and vulnerability indicators (sense of danger, fear of death and dying, stress, perception of threats). Resilience indicators were found to be above average, whereas vulnerability indicators were found to be lower than average. Hospital support and administrative staff reported higher vulnerability and lower resilience than health professionals. Longer tenure in COVID-19 wards was associated with high resilience and high vulnerability. Morale was the only indicator associated with high well-being, high resilience, and low stress. These findings demonstrate the dialectical experiences of employees in geriatrics centers coping with cumulative adversity, combining vulnerability and resilience. Morale is an important resource contributing to higher resilience and lower vulnerability. Employees should receive assistance with building resilience mechanisms that help them cope with stressful situations and thus, strengthen institutional resilience.