Previous studies have revealed various factors related to nurses' resilience and predictors of resilience. However, there are no studies analysing the association of three variables-mental well-being, coping strategies, and stress-with resilience. This study aims to assess the impact of mental well-being, levels of stress, and coping strategies on resilience using path analysis. This study used a cross-sectional approach that involved 763 nurses from 16 major hospitals in the eastern and northern regions of Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data gathering was conducted from August to November 2022. The staff nurses possessed positive mental wellness (3.75 ± 1.08), moderate stress levels (3.06 ± 1.21), adequate coping skills (3.33 ± 1.23), and a low level of resilience (2.90 ± 1.040). Age had a small effect on resilience (β = 0.040; p < 0.001) but work experience (β = -0.019; p > 0.139) and marital status (β = 0.019; p > 0.072) were not significant. Conversely, mental well-being (β = 0.043; p < 0.001) and stress (β = -0.089; p < 0.001) had a small effect on resilience, but coping strategies (β = 0.561; p < 0.001) had a large effect on resilience. Therefore, coping strategies must be reinforced at all times to assist nurses and other healthcare professionals in identifying contributing elements that maintain these workers' resilience in the face of unforeseen and protracted pandemics and other life events.
Keywords: COVID-19; Saudi Arabia; coping strategies; mental well-being; resilience; staff nurses; stress.