Trapped in position,strong in spirit? Examining career plateau and psychological resilience among nurses

Introduction

Nursing is widely recognized as one of the most physically and emotionally demanding professions, while also making a vital contribution to the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. ¹ As a central pillar of healthcare systems, nurses assume responsibilities that extend well beyond the delivery of direct clinical care. Increasingly, they are expected to engage in complex clinical decision-making, demonstrate leadership within multidisciplinary teams, and adapt rapidly to evolving service demands. ² In contemporary healthcare settings, nurses routinely practice under highly demanding conditions characterized by multiple, overlapping job demands. These include rising patient acuity and volume, persistent staffing shortages, heavy workloads, shifting care priorities, emotionally taxing care processes, irregular and extended shift patterns, limited opportunities for career advancement, and ongoing time pressure.^3–8 Such conditions have been consistently associated with an increased risk of adverse occupational and psychological outcomes, including turnover intention, career plateau, work-related stress, burnout, anxiety, and depression. In addition, prolonged exposure to these stressors can negatively impact nurses’ mental and physical well-being and compromise the quality and safety of patient care.^3,5,7,9–11 Given the intensity of work demands and the emotional burden inherent in nursing practice, both of which are known to elevate the risk of job stress and burnout, strengthening psychological resilience has increasingly been emphasized as a critical strategy for managing these adverse outcomes.^12,13 Psychological resilience may support the maintenance of adaptive psychological functioning, particularly in contexts where nurses are exposed to sustained stress or face an elevated risk of burnout. ¹³ From the perspective of COR theory, psychological resilience is conceptualized as a fundamental personal resource reflecting individuals’ capacity to adapt to adversity, recover from stressors, and mobilize available resources more effectively. According to COR theory, stress arises primarily from the actual loss of resources or the perceived threat of such loss; therefore, resource conservation and resource enhancement are central to psychological well-being and effective coping. When resources are depleted, stress intensifies, and individuals are motivated to compensate or restore these losses. However, the acquisition of new resources strengthens psychological resilience and facilitates more effective coping with stress. Over time, resource accumulation supports a positive gain cycle, in which existing resources encourage further resource acquisition and progressively enhance individuals’ capacity to manage ongoing demands.^14–18

Within the nursing profession, psychological resilience plays a pivotal role in sustaining nurses’ personal well-being, occupational health, and overall professional performance.^19–22 Evidence indicates that nurses with higher levels of psychological resilience are better able to maintain their mental well-being despite exposure to occupational stressors, ²³ cope more effectively with workplace challenges,^24,25 and experience lower levels of job fatigue and greater perseverance and optimism. ²⁶ Higher resilience has also been associated with increased job satisfaction, ²⁷ improved job performance, ²⁰ reduced burnout,^28,29 and lower turnover intentions. ³⁰ In addition, resilient nurses tend to provide higher-quality patient care ³¹ and demonstrate stronger motivation for career advancement. ³² Zhang et al. ³² showed that psychological resilience mediates the relationship between nurses’ sense of professional mission and career success, indicating that higher resilience facilitates professional growth and career development. Collectively, these findings suggest that psychological resilience functions as a protective buffer, enabling nurses to manage both acute stressors and the cumulative effects of sustained occupational demands. Accordingly, the literature increasingly emphasizes the need to strengthen psychological resilience among nurses as a priority at both individual and organizational levels.

Despite this growing recognition, evidence regarding the role of psychological resilience in career-related outcomes among nurses remains limited. To date, only a small number of studies have examined associations between psychological resilience and career-related constructs, such as career commitment, ³³ career success, ³² career satisfaction, ³⁴ career identity, ³⁵ and career development. ³⁶ However, the relationship between psychological resilience and career plateau has not been specifically examined within nursing populations. ¹³ This gap represents an important area for further research, particularly in terms of increasing motivation, supporting professional development, and strengthening retention within the nursing workforce. Psychological resilience may be especially critical not only during periods of career plateau but also across its different stages.

Career plateau is commonly defined as a perceived stagnation in professional development, including limited opportunities for learning or skill acquisition, constrained responsibilities, and the inability to progress or transition to new roles over an extended period.^37,38 Conceptually, career plateau is often examined across two dimensions: a structural dimension, which reflects restricted organizational promotion and development opportunities, and a contextual dimension, which captures reduced opportunities for learning and professional development within the current role.^39–41 Previous research suggests that nurses’ perceptions of career plateau are influenced by a range of demographic and occupational factors, including age, years of professional experience, educational level, type of healthcare institution, and shift patterns.^42–45 From the perspective of COR theory, these characteristics shape both existing resource levels (e.g., experience, seniority, income) and expectations regarding future resources, including promotion opportunities and access to learning and professional development (e.g., psychological capital, self-efficacy, life satisfaction, career adaptability, and person-environment fit) and aspects of the work context (e.g., organizational fit and workplace support) have also been identified as predictors of career plateau.^39,45 Career plateau has been shown to be a widespread phenomenon across different industries and occupational settings and is associated with a range of work-related outcomes. These include lower job satisfaction, job performance, overall well-being, and organizational commitment, higher turnover intention, and counterproductive work behavior.^44–46 Beyond occupational outcomes, career plateau may also adversely affect psychological health. Employees experiencing plateau have been reported to experience higher levels of negative emotional states, including stress, burnout, psychological distress, and depressive symptoms.^41,47–49 These findings reveal the significant individual and organizational implications of career plateau, particularly for nurses who already work under conditions of high workload and sustained occupational stress.

Despite the expanding literature on career plateau in nursing and the well-documented role of psychological resilience in reducing occupational stress and burnout, research directly linking these two constructs remains limited. Existing studies have largely focused on demographic, organizational, or motivational predictors of career plateau, while psychological resilience has received limited attention as a potential protective personal resource. From a COR theory perspective, career plateau may be conceptualized as a form of resource loss or threat, which is manifested through restricted promotion opportunities and limited professional growth, which, in turn, increases stress and adversely affects well-being. Psychological resilience, in contrast, represents a key personal resource that enables individuals to conserve existing resources, acquire new ones, and adapt effectively to career-related challenges. This study extends the literature by simultaneously distinguishing between hierarchical and job content career plateaus among nurses and examining how these distinct forms of plateau are associated with psychological resilience. While the link between resilience and career plateau has been explored in other occupational groups, studies focusing specifically on nurses and differentiating hierarchical from job content plateau, as well as considering the role of professional motivation, remain scarce. Thus, the present study addresses an important gap by investigating how different types of plateau and nurses’ motivation interact in shaping resilience.

Addressing this gap, the present study aims to examine the relationship between nurses’ psychological resilience and perceived career plateau, and to determine whether psychological resilience, with selected demographic and occupational characteristics, predicts overall career plateau, as well as its structural and job content dimensions. Based on COR theory, it was hypothesized that higher levels of psychological resilience would be associated with lower perceptions of career plateau.

H1a: Psychological resilience is negatively associated with structural career plateau.

Methods

Ethical considerations

Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine Clinical Research Ethics Committee (27.09.2021-498313). The research was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles of the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki. The questionnaire was structured to ensure anonymity, and no personally identifying information, such as names or contact details, was collected. Informed consent was obtained from all participating nurses. The consent form clearly explained participants’ rights, including the right to refuse participation or withdraw from the study at any stage without any negative consequences. Participantes were informed that the data would be used solely for research purposes and treated with strict confidentiality. Although no personal identifiers were collected, anonymized data may be used for scientific publication. Detailed information regarding the study's purpose, procedures and any potential risks was provided prior to data collection.

Results

Characteristics of the participants

A total of 784 nurses were included in the study. The mean age of participants was 28.09 ± 8.09 years (Median = 25, Range: 20–58, Inter Quantile Range = 23–30). The mean duration of professional experience was 6.16 ± 8.18 years (Median = 2; Range = 1–4; Inter Quantile Range = 1–7). The majority were female (77.2%) and single (71.8%). Most nurses held a bachelor's degree (62.1%), and a larger proportion reported having chosen the nursing profession voluntarily (85.3%) (Table 1).

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Table 1.

Demographic characteristics of nurses participating in the study.

Variable	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
Gender
Female	605	77.2
Male	179	22.8
Marital Status
Married	221	28.2
Single	563	71.8
Educational Level
High school	192	24.5
Associate degree	53	6.8
Bachelor's degree	487	62.1
Postgraduate degree	52	6.6
Willingly choosing the profession
Yes	669	85.3
No	115	14.7
Total	784	100.0

Descriptive information on hierarchical career plateau and psychological resilience

Descriptive statistics for the study scales are presented in Table 2. The mean psychological resilience (PR) score was 21.67 ± 4.29 (median: 22; range: 6–30). The mean total career plateau (CP) score was 3.10 ± 0.72 (median: 3.1; range: 1.6–6). Analysis of the CP subscales showed a mean job content plateau score of 3.21 ± 0.65 (median: 3.2; range: 1.2–6) and a mean hierarchical plateau score of 2.98 ± 1.13 (median: 2.8; range: 1–6). Skewness (−0.31 for PR; 0.46 for CP) and kurtosis (0.49 for PR; 0.26 for CP) values suggested that the distributions of PR and CP scores approximated normality. Reliability analyses demonstrated acceptable internal consistency for the overall PR and CP scales (Cronbach's α = 0.84 and α = 0.74, respectively). For the CP subscales, internal consistency was high for the hierarchical plateau (α = 0.84), while it was low for the job content plateau (α = 0.38).

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Table 2.

Psychological resilience and career plateau scales score statistics.

Scales	Mean (M)	SD	Median	Min	Max	Skewness	Kurtosis	Cronbach alpha
Psychological resilience (PR)	21.67	4.29	22	6	30	−0.31	0.49	0.84
Career plateau (CP)	3.10	0.72	3.1	1.6	6	0.46	0.26	0.74
Job content career plateau	3.21	0.65	3.2	1.2	6	0.79	1.66	0.38
Hierarchical career plateau	2.98	1.13	2.8	1	6	0.35	−0.19	0.84

SD: standard deviation.

Relationships between research variables

The results of the Pearson correlation analyses are presented in Table 3. Psychological resilience (PR) was negatively correlated with age (r = −0.115; p = 0.001) and years of professional experience (r = −0.202; p < 0.001). Career plateau (CP), in contrast, was positively correlated with age (r = 0.182; p < 0.001) and educational level (r = -0.389; p < 0.001). A significant negative correlation was identified between overall CP and PR (r = −0.293; p < 0.001). When CP subscales were examined seperately, hierarchical CP was negatively correlated with PR (r = −0.345; p < 0.001), while job content CP showed no significant correlation (r = −0.050; p > 0.05).

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Table 3.

Relationships between continuous variables ^a .

No	Variables	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	Age	—
2	Duration of Professional experience	0.380*
3	Educational level	0.953*	0.246*
4	Psychological resilience	−0.202*	−0.115**	−0.180*
5	Career plateau	0.389*	0.182*	0.383*	−0.293*
6	Job content career plateau	0.241*	0.107**	0.218*	−0.050	0.653*
7	Hierarchical career plateau	0.357*	0.170*	0.362*	−0.345*	0.901*	0.260*

^a

Pearson correlation.

*p < 0.001; **p < 0.01.

Univariate analysis results

As presented in Table 4, male nurses reported significantly higher PR scores than female nurses (t = 3.142; p = 0.002). Single nurses demonstrated higher resilience compared with married nurses (t = 4.214; p < 0.001), while married nurses reported higher scores for overall career plateau and for each of its subscales (t = 4.848 to 6.408; p < 0.001). Nurses who had chosen the profession voluntarily showed significantly greater PR than those who had entered nursing involuntarily (t = 4.602; p < 0.001). Consistent with this pattern, nurses with a voluntarily career choice reported lower perceptions of career plateau across all subscales (t = 4.458 to 7.797; p < 0.001).

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Table 4.

Comparison of nurses’ mean scores of psychological resilience and career plateau according to some categorical variables.

		PR	CP	CCP	HCP
Variables	n	Mean ± SD	Mean ± SD	Mean ± SD	Mean ± SD
Gender
Female	605	21.41 ± 4.28	3.11 ± 0.73	3,20 ± 0,63	3,02 ± 1,17
Male	179	22.55 ± 4.22	3.05 ± 0.67	3,27 ± 0,70	2,84 ± 0,97
t		3.142	0.944	1.310	2.126
P		0.002 **	0.346	0.191	0.034 ***
Marital status
Married	221	20.65 ± 3.95	3.35 ± 0.71	3,42 ± 0,64	3,29 ± 1,18
Single	563	22.07 ± 4.36	3.00 ± 0.69	3,14 ± 0,63	2,86 ± 1,08
t		4.214	6.408	5.632	4.848
P		p < 0.001*	p < 0.001*	p < 0.001*	p < 0.001*
Willingly choosing the profession
Yes	669	21.96 ± 4.26	3.02 ± 0.71	3,17 ± 0,63	2,87 ± 1,12
No	115	19.99 ± 4.12	3.55 ± 0.59	3,46 ± 0,71	3,63 ± 0,95
t		4.602	8.562	4.458	7.797
P		p < 0.001*	p < 0.001*	p < 0.001*	p < 0.001*

SD: standard deviation; PR: psychological resilience; CP: career plateau; CCP: job content career plateau; HCP, hierarchical career plateau.

t , Independent sample t-test.

*p < 0.001; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.05.

Multivariate analysis results

Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to identify independent predictors of overall career plateau and its susbcales (Table 5).

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Table 5.

Independent variables associated with career plateau.

Model 1. Dependent variable: general career plateau
Variables	B	SE	β	t	p	Tol	VIF	Model 1 Summary
(Constant)	2.972	0.275		10.825	<0.001			F = 38.938; p < 0.001
Age	0.009	0.011	0.098	0.785	0.433	0.064	15.687	R2 = 0.231
Educational level	0.045	0.029	0.058	1.550	0.122	0.704	1.420	Adj. R2 = 0.225
Marital status	−0.013	0.063	−0.008	−0.211	0.833	0.630	1.586	DW = 1.712
Duration of professional experience	0.019	0.010	0.213	1.854	0.064	0.075	13.374
Willingly choosing the profession	0.340	0.066	0.167	5.178	<0.001*	0.946	1.057
Psychological resilience	−0.034	0.005	−0.202	−6.230	<0.001*	0.939	1.065
Model 2. Dependent variable: Job content career plateau
Variables	B	SE	β	t	p	Tol	VIF	Model 2 Summary
(Constant)	2.150	0.227		9.455	<0.001			F = 15.769; p < 0.001
Age	0.023	0.011	0.284	2.124	0.034	0.064	15.628	R2 = 0.109
Educational level	−0.015	0.028	−0.022	−0.532	0.595	0.700	1.428	Adj. R2 = 0.102
Marital status	0.138	0.061	0.096	2.261	0.024	0.630	1.587	DW = 1.666
Duration of professional experience	−0.015	0.010	−0.186	−1.496	0.135	0.074	13.483
Willingly choosing the profession	0.164	0.064	0.090	2.558	0.011***	0.930	1.076
Hierarchical career plateau	0.110	0.021	0.191	5.141	<0.001*	0.829	1.206
Model 3. Dependent variable: Hierarchical career plateau
Variables	B	SE	β	t	p	Tol	VIF	Model 3 Summary
(Constant)	3.770	0.441		8.557	<0.001			F = 34.899; p < 0.001
Age	−0.007	0.017	−0.052	−0.414	0.679	0.063	15.801	R2 = 0.239
Gender	−0.076	0.087	−0.028	−0.874	0.382	0.927	1.079	Adj. R2 = 0.233
Educational level	0.096	0.045	0.079	2.114	0.035***	0.697	1.436	DW = 1.860
Marital status	−0.146	0.099	−0.058	−1.475	0.141	0.625	1.599
Duration of professional experience	0.049	0.016	0.356	3.086	0.002**	0.074	13.577
Willingly choosing the profession	0.445	0.102	0.140	4.345	<0.001*	0.944	1.059
Psychological resilience	−0.071	0.008	−0.271	−8.374	<0.001*	0.933	1.071

B, unstandardized coefficients; β, standardized coefficients; SE, standard error; VIF, variance inflation factor; DW test, Durbin Watson statistic; Tol, tolerance.

*p < 0.001; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.05.

In the model predicting overall career plateau, the model was statistically significant (R² = 0.231, p < 0.001). Two variables emerged as significant predictors of higher career plateau scores: not having chosen the nursing profession voluntarily (β = 0.167, p < 0.001) and lower levels of psychological resilience (β = −0.202, p < 0.001). For job content career plateau, the model explained 10.9% of the variance (R² = 0.109, p < 0.001). Increasing age (β = 0.284, p = 0.034), being married (β = 0.096, p = 0.024), and higher hierarchical career plateau scores (β = 0.191, p < 0.001) were identified as significant positive predictors. In the hierarchical career plateau model (R² = 0.239, p < 0.001), longer professional experience (β = 0.356, p = 0.002), higher educational level (β = 0.079, p = 0.035), and not having chosen the profession voluntarily (β = 0.140, p < 0.001) were correlated with higher hierarchical plateau scores. In contrast, greater psychological resilience was significantly correlated with lower hierarchical plateau (β = −0.271, p < 0.001). All regression models met key assumptions. Multicollinearity was within acceptable limits (VIF < 10) and Durbin-Watson statistics ranging between 1.5 and 2.5 indicated independence of residuals. Overall, these results highlight the combined influence of demographic and occupational factors and psychological resilience in shaping nurses’ perceptions of career plateau.

Discussion

This study examined nurses’ perceptions of career plateau and their levels of psychological resilience, with attention to both job content and hierarchical dimensions of career plateau. The findings indicate that overall career plateau is shaped not only by nurses’ motivation for entering the profession but also by their level of psychological resilience. Hierarchical career plateau, in particular, was associated with educational level, years of professional experience, voluntary career choice, and resilience. Job content career plateau, on the other hand, was influenced by whether nursing had been chosen voluntarily and by the level of hierarchical career plateau.

The mean psychological resilience score observed in this study was above the scale midpoint (Mean = 21.67 ± 4.29), suggesting that participants generally demonstrated a relatively strong capacity to regulate emotions, adapt to challenging situations, and maintain professional functioning in demanding clinical settings. Previous research has often described nurses’ resilience levels as moderate.^20,30,53 However, some studies have identified comparatively low resilience levels among nurses.^13,54 The relatively elevated resilience scores observed in this sample therefore suggest a meaningful capacity among nurses for emotion regulation, adaptation to changing clinical demands, and continued professional functioning. Nevertheless, both hierarchical and job content career plateau were inversely associated with psychological resilience. This finding indicates that even nurses with strong personal resources may still perceive career plateau when organizational opportunities for advancement are limited. Therefore, resilience is considered to buffer some of the personal impact of career challenges but does not fully offset balance structural constraints within the work environment. The results indicate that strengthening individual resilience may not be sufficient to prevent career plateau. Accordingly, interventions should integrate resilience-building programs with organizational strategies that establish transparent career pathways, equitable promotion systems, and expanded opportunities for professional development.

The mean career plateau (CP) score among nurses in this study was moderate (M = 3.10 ± 0.72). This suggests that, although nurses experience a certain degree of perceived plateau or blockage in their careers, these perceptions have not yet translated into widespread dissatisfaction or burnout. Examination of the subscales revealed that job content CP (M = 3.21) was slightly higher than hierarchical CP (M = 2.98), a pattern consistent with the findings of Abd-Elrhaman et al. ⁴² In contrast, studies by Zhu and Li ⁴⁵ and Polat et al. ⁴⁴ reported higher levels of hierarchical plateau, these differences may be attributable to variations in organizational structure, cultural context, and the availability of career advancement opportunities. The slightly higher job content plateau suggests that nurses’ perceptions of stagnation are shaped more by characteristics of their daily work, such as meaningfulness, opportunities for learning and development, and task variety, than by hierarchical limitations such as promotion prospects or job titles. These findings highlight the importance of enhancing the qualitative aspects of nurses’ current roles and expanding opportunities for professional growth.

The study also showed that married nurses exhibited lower psychological resilience than their single colleagues. Previous research indicates that increased family-role responsibilities may negatively influence resilience; however, perceived social and family support can partially buffer these effects.^55,56 In contrast, several studies have reported no significant differences in psychological resilience according to marital status.^20,56–58 This finding suggests that the combined demands of professional and family responsibilities may impose additional strain on nurses’ time, energy, and emotional resources, thereby constraining their capacity to cope effectively with occupational stress.

In addition, nurses who had entered the profession voluntarily demonstrated higher levels of psychological resilience than those who had not. Similar findings were reported by Barut-Tusun and Ercan-Şahin, ⁵³ who observed greater resilience among nurses who had chosen the profession voluntarily. This result emphasized the importance of professional motivation and commitment as key personal resources. Such positive professional orientations may foster perseverance in the face of occupational challenges, enhance retention within the profession, and contribute to psychological resilience by strengthening nurses’ capacity to manage work-related stress effectively.

Gender differences were also observed, with male nurses demonstrating significantly higher psychological resilience than their female colleagues. Some studies have reported no significant gender differences in psychological resilience among nurses,^20,57–59 while others have indicated higher resilience levels in male nurses. ³⁰ This finding suggests that gender differences in psychological resilience may be related not only to individual traits but also to gendered role expectations, coping styles, and the fact that female nurses often carry a heavier combined load of work and family responsibilities. At the same time, the presence of both non-significant differences and higher resilience scores in male nurses in the literature indicates that gender effects should be interpreted cautiously and considered within specific contextual and cultural frameworks rather than attributed solely to inherent gender characteristics.

Professional experience emerged as a significant predictor of hierarchical career plateau, with more experienced nurses reporting higher levels of hierarchical plateau. While Hu et al. ³⁹ found only a very weak correlation between hierarchical plateau and professional experience, other studies have reported patterns more consistent with the present findings. For example, Kim and Lee ⁴⁷ observed higher levels of structural career plateau among nurses with more than 10 years of experience compared with those with less than two years, and identified 5–10 years of employment as a critical period influencing structural career plateau. However, some research has found no significant differences in career plateau perceptions according to professional experience. ⁴³ In hospital settings, where career ladders are typically rigid, limited promotion opportunities may intensify feelings of being “stuck” in a position. These findings highlight the importance of developing alternative career pathways, lateral advancement options, and structured professional development programes to support experienced nurses and maintain both their resilience and organizational commitment.

Educational level was also positively correlated with hierarchical career plateau, indicating that more highly educated nurses may experience unmet expectations regarding advancement. Previous studies similarly suggest that nurses with a bachelor's degree or higher may encounter greater career plateau, largely due to limited promotion opportunities and extended tenure in the same position, which may negatively influence job satisfaction and increase turnover intentions. ⁴⁵ In contrast, Arzani et al. ⁶⁰ reported that although nurses with a bachelor's degree exhibited higher overall and hierarchical career plateau, those with graduate education experienced greater job content plateau. Other studies, however, have found no significant correlation between educational level and career plateau perceptions.^39,43,47 The present findings support the conclusion that nurses with higher educational attainment may perceive a mismatch between their qualifications and available career advancement opportunities, contributing to a sense of having reached a hierarchical “ceiling”.

The career plateau was found to be more pronounced among nurses who entered the profession unintentionally. This was true in general, as well as specifically in terms of the hierarchical plateau. However, interpretations regarding the job content plateau must consider the limitations of the measurement, given that this subscale has a low Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Polat et al. ⁴⁴ similarly reported that reluctant entry into nursing was associated with higher perceptions of hierarchical career plateau. Individuals with low initial motivation may develop weaker professional attachment and demonstrate less effective engagement in professional development activities, thereby limiting the acquisition of competencies required for career progression.^45,61,62 Such nurses may also undervalue the developmental opportunities, professional growth, and intrinsic rewards inherent in nursing practice. In addition, contextual factors such as role ambiguity, insufficient organizational support, and low job satisfaction may further reduce motivation and increase perceptions of plateau.^36,63 These findings suggest that voluntarily choosing the nursing profession enhances the perceived meaningfulness of work, strengthens commitment to patient care, and allows individuals to view their professional role as a personal resource. From the perspective of COR theory, this orientation may function as a protective resource that buffers against the experience of career plateau by reducing perceptions of resource loss.

The present study also demonstrated a significant negative association between career plateau and psychological resilience, particularly in relation to hierarchical and overall career plateau. Nurses with higher resilience reported lower perceptions of hierarchical stagnation, while those with lower resilience experienced a stronger sense of career plateau. This relationship may be explained by the established link between psychological resilience and effective stress management, including adaptive coping strategies and the ability to reduce the impact of occupational stressors.^13,24,25,64 In this context, resilience is considered to provide nurses with essential psychological resources that enable them to interpret career barriers as manageable rather than as indicators of stagnation. Although limited research has directly examined the influence of psychological resilience on career plateau in nursing populations, resilience is widely conceptualized as a core component of psychological capital. Evidence suggests that psychological capital reduces perceptions of career plateau and its adverse consequences.^39,65 The present findings align with studies demonstrating that resilience among nurses is associated with fewer negative outcomes, such as career-related anxiety, and with more favorable outcomes, including career satisfaction and subjective career success.^{32,34,66–68}

The finding that psychological resilience negatively predicted both hierarchical and overall career plateau underscores its function as a key personal resource within the framework of COR theory. Resilient nurses are better equipped to prevent or reduce career-related resource loss while also supporting processes consistent with resource gain spirals. COR theory indicates that individuals with stronger personal resources use existing assets more effectively under stress and are more likely to acquire additional resources, such as social support, professional competencies, alternative career opportunities, and a sustained sense of meaning and hope. Through these mechanisms, hierarchical constraints, including limited promotion opportunities, may be appraised as more manageable and less threatening, thereby reducing perceptions of being “stuck” and reducing hierarchical and overall career plateau. From this perspective, the findings are consistent with COR theory's concepts of “resource caravans” and “gain spirals,” suggesting that psychological resilience operates as a protective factor against career-related resource depletion. Nurses with a richer pool of personal resources may approach their careers more flexibly, explore alternative developmental pathways, and maintain engagement despite structural constraints as a resource reservoir.^17,38,69 The distinction between job content and hierarchical career plateau was particularly important. While job content plateau showed no significant correlation with psychological resilience. Due to the low Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α = 0.38) for the job content subscale, the lack of a significant correlation between this dimension and psychological resilience should be considered an exploratory and tentative finding. In contrast, the hierarchical plateau showed a strong negative correlation with resilience. This pattern suggests that structural and promotional constraints may have more pronounced effects on psychological outcomes than limitations related to task variety or role-specific learning, though these findings are exploratory. A similar pattern was reported by Chang et al., ⁷⁰ who found that resilience buffered the effects of interpersonal and personal stressors but produced weaker influence on systemic or structural stressors. Organizational barriers, including unclear career pathways and rigid hierarchies, may function as chronic contextual stressors that are less responsive to individual coping resources. These findings highlight the need for multi-level interventions, combining individual resource strengthening with organizational strategies that address both job content and hierarchical sources of career plateau. Regression analyses further confirmed that psychological resilience was an independent predictor of career plateau, with lower resilience associated with higher perceptions of overall and hierarchical plateau. From a COR perspective, resilience may thus be considered a central personal resource that shapes how nurses interpret and respond to career plateau. Higher resilience is associated with greater use of adaptive and problem-focused coping strategies, a more proactive stance toward work-related challenges, and more effective adaptation to changing or demanding clinical conditions.^19,30,71,72

To reduce perceptions of career plateau, interventions aimed at strengthening psychological resilience may be beneficial. In practice, resilience-enhancing programs may help nurses buffer the impact of prolonged career plateau. Both group-based and individual resilience-focused interventions have demonstrated effectiveness in improving resilience levels.^{73, 74} Meta-analytic evidence further indicates that interventions incorporating emotion regulation training, relaxation techniques, and self-compassion components are particularly effective in strengthening resilience among nurses.^73,74

The low Cronbach's alpha obtained for the job content plateau subscale (α = 0.38) was considered a substantial limitation regarding the reliability of the findings for this dimension, and therefore these results must be treated as exploratory and tentative rather than definitive. There are several possible explanations for this result. First, the relatively small number of items in the job content plateau subscale and weak inter-item correlations may structurally depress the alpha coefficient. ⁷⁵ Second, because perceptions of career and job content are culture-sensitive constructs, some items may not have fully captured the intended conceptual domain in the target culture after the cross-cultural adaptation process, which can adversely affect both reliability estimates and the validity of the dimension. ⁷⁶ Third, the sample consisted largely of nurses working in similar institutional settings and roles, which likely restricted the range of responses; such restricted variance in homogeneous samples has been shown to attenuate factor loadings and reliability coefficients in factor-analytic and psychometric studies.^76–77 The low Cronbach's alpha value (α = 0.38) indicates that scores on the job content plateau subscale are not highly reliable, which weakens the validity of the correlations and regression results based on this dimension and implies that these findings should be interpreted only as exploratory and tentative. Future studies should therefore aim to strengthen the measurement of job content plateau by expanding the item pool, employing qualitative methods to refine item content within the cultural context, replicating factor analyses in more heterogeneous nursing samples, and using sampling strategies that minimize range restriction, which may help improve both the reliability and conceptual validity of this dimension.

To our knowledge, this is one of the first studies to distinguish explicitly between hierarchical and job content career plateaus in a nursing population and to examine their associations with psychological resilience. Beyond confirming that resilience is relevant in the context of career plateau, our findings highlight that the type of plateau (hierarchical vs. job content) and the level of professional motivation may play a differential role in how nurses experience and cope with plateaued careers. This nuanced focus on plateau type and motivation represents a novel contribution to the nursing and career development literature and suggests that interventions should be tailored not only to nurses’ resilience levels but also to the specific form of plateau they are facing and their underlying motivational resources.

Strengths and limitations

The cross-sectional design of this study limits the ability to draw causal inferences, highlighting the need for longitudinal research to explore the temporal and potentially reciprocal associations between psychological resilience and career plateau over time. In addition, the exclusive use of self-report measures may have introduced response bias, including social desirability and subjective appraisal bias, particularly in career experiences and psychological characteristics. One of the main limitations of this study is the low Cronbach's alpha coefficient obtained for the job content plateau subscale (α = 0.38), which restricts the reliability and interpretability of the findings related to this dimension and requires that these results be treated as exploratory and tentative. Accordingly, all results and inferences based on the job content plateau subscale in this study have been considered preliminary and interpreted with caution. Future research is recommended to refine the item content, increase the number of items, and re-examine the reliability and factor validity of this subscale in more heterogeneous samples. Another methodological limitation is that the relationship between psychological resilience and career plateau was examined using only linear regression models. Although separate models were established for career plateau dimensions, the study did not consider potential interaction effects or mediating mechanisms between psychological capital and career plateau (e.g., indirect effects via organizational variables). More complex models of this nature will be explored in future research, taking sample size and study scope into account. Despite these limitations, the study has several notable strengths. These include the relatively large and well-defined sample, the use of widely used and psychometrically validated instruments, and the simultaneous examination of of hierarchical and job content dimensions of career plateau, which allowed for a more nuanced understanding of career stagnation in nursing practice.

Conclusion

The findings of this study indicate that nurses with lower levels of psychological resilience experience higher perceptions of career plateau, with the strongest and most consistent association observed for hierarchical career plateau. These results underscore the importance of personal psychological resources in shaping nurses’ career experiences and highlight their relevance for professional commitment, and job satisfaction. Importantly, the findings suggest that addressing career plateau requires a dual-level approach.

At the individual level, interventions aimed at strengthening psychological resilience may enhance nurses’ capacity to cope with perceived career stagnation and reduce the psychological impact of limited advancement opportunities. At the organizational level, however, structural conditions remain critical. The development of clear, transparent, and accessible career pathways is essential to prevent or mitigate hierarchical career plateau. Mentoring systems, career counseling services, and structured resilience-enhancement programs may be particularly valuable for nurses who perceive limited advancement opportunities. Furthermore, instituional policies that support both horizontal role enrichment and vertical career progressionand within healthcare organizations may help reduce career plateau among mid-career nurses, thereby contributing to workforce retention, professional sustainability, and overall job satisfaction. Future longitudinal studies are needed to clarify the directionality of the relationship between resilience and career plateau.