Evaluating the impact of an educational intervention on reducing work–family conflict through resilience enhancement

Nurses often face significant challenges related to work-family conflict, which can be exacerbated by demanding work conditions. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of teaching resilience in reducing work-family conflict among nurses and their spouses. A quasi-experimental study was conducted using a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population comprised all nurses at Azarshahr Hospital in 2023, from which 30 couples were randomly selected and divided into an experimental group (15 couples) and a control group (15 couples). Data were analyzed using two-way MANCOVA. The resilience program was delivered as 8 weekly 1-hour in-person group sessions for 15 couples, based on Henderson and Milstein’s (2003) Resiliency Wheel model. Following the resilience training, all three components of work-family conflict—time-based conflict, strain-based conflict, and behavior-based conflict—decreased in the experimental group compared to the control group. Gender did not significantly affect the impact of resilience training on the dependent variable levels. Work-family conflict is a significant stressor arising from the inconsistency between the demands of work and family roles. Given that nursing is a profession prone to such conflicts, implementing resilience training programs is recommended to mitigate work-family conflict.