Longitudinal Interplay Between Team Resilience and Team Stress in Low‐Stability Clinical Nursing Teams: A Cross‐Lagged Panel Network Analysis
Source: PubMed Central Open Access, NCBI / U.S. National Library of Medicine
Aim To estimate longitudinal predictive relationships between team resilience and team stress among low‐stability clinical nursing teams, identifying core driving factors and bridging mechanisms using cross‐lagged panel network analysis. sec-0001 Background Chronic instability in clinical nursing teams disrupts workflows and triggers systemic team stress, which is further exacerbated by digital health technology burdens and moral distress. Understanding how specific dimensions of team resilience interact with these facets of team stress over time is essential for developing precise organizational interventions. sec-0002 Design A two‐wave longitudinal panel study. sec-0003 Methods Data from the Nurse Team Health Management Research Cohort across two waves (October 2024 and December 2025) included 5164 clinical nurses aggregated into 285 low‐stability nurse teams. Team resilience and team stress were assessed using the Analyzing and Developing Adaptability and Performance in Teams to Enhance Resilience Scale and a customized Nursing Job Stressor Inventory. A cross‐lagged panel network was estimated to identify influential nodes and network conduits. sec-0004 Results Digital health technology burden exhibited the highest predictive power, driving team stress and significantly predicting subsequent moral distress. Moral distress emerged as a potentially destructive bridge, which may negatively predict multiple resilience dimensions over time. Conversely, cooperation with other de
Abstract
Aim To estimate longitudinal predictive relationships between team resilience and team stress among low‐stability clinical nursing teams, identifying core driving factors and bridging mechanisms using cross‐lagged panel network analysis. sec-0001 Background Chronic instability in clinical nursing teams disrupts workflows and triggers systemic team stress, which is further exacerbated by digital health technology burdens and moral distress. Understanding how specific dimensions of team resilience interact with these facets of team stress over time is essential for developing precise organizational interventions. sec-0002 Design A two‐wave longitudinal panel study. sec-0003 Methods Data from the Nurse Team Health Management Research Cohort across two waves (October 2024 and December 2025) included 5164 clinical nurses aggregated into 285 low‐stability nurse teams. Team resilience and team stress were assessed using the Analyzing and Developing Adaptability and Performance in Teams to Enhance Resilience Scale and a customized Nursing Job Stressor Inventory. A cross‐lagged panel network was estimated to identify influential nodes and network conduits. sec-0004 Results Digital health technology burden exhibited the highest predictive power, driving team stress and significantly predicting subsequent moral distress. Moral distress emerged as a potentially destructive bridge, which may negatively predict multiple resilience dimensions over time. Conversely, cooperation with other departments appeared to serve as a protective bridge, mitigating subsequent subjective work stress and digital technology burden. Monitoring exhibited a potentially paradoxical effect, positively predicting subsequent subjective work stress. sec-0005 Conclusion Digital health technology burden drives occupational stress in low‐stability nursing teams. Moral distress may erode team resilience, whereas cross‐departmental cooperation acts as a potential protective shield. sec-0006 Implications for Nursing Management This study shifts the focus of occupational stress management from the individual to the team level. To stabilize nursing teams facing chronic instability and high turnover, healthcare administrators should move beyond generic stress reduction. Targeted interventions must focus on alleviating digital workflow burdens, instituting routine ethical debriefings to resolve moral distress, and formalizing boundary‐spanning cooperation protocols. sec-0007