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To use systematic methods to examine how resilience is defined in empirical research.

Resilience is a term that is increasingly being used to describe and explain the complexities of individual and group responses to traumatic and challenging situations. It is now frequently mentioned in relation to many areas of nursing practice, including research. Given the increasing use of the term, it is timely to examine how resilience has been defined in empirical research.

An integrative review of the empirical literature (2000–2015).

Three health‐related databases were searched: Medline, PsycINFO and the Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL). Reference and citation tracking was performed on all articles included in the review.

The methods described by Whittemore and Knafl were used to guide this review. Two reviewers were involved in …