ABSTRACT
A lack of resilience within caregiving organizations presents itself in particular ways. An inpatient mental health clinic is marked by struggles for control between staff nurses and attending psychiatrists. The administrators of a welfare agency are frustrated by the staff’s inability to independently solve problems. The government agency charged with protecting children loses a stream of social workers and therapists. Teachers and administrators of a private school remain locked in conflict over how to involve parents in the life of the school. Religious services and programs are badly attended by the members of a congregation whose leaders have been unable to develop a vision for their institution. Nurses and physicians staffing the emergency room of a city hospital have difficulty moving patients out of the unit, stymied by their inability to communicate effectively with other hospital admitting units. A residential treatment center for adolescents is divided into units whose directors do not easily or usefully share resources, ideas, and programs. When these and similar dilemmas present themselves and members cannot as a matter of course resolve them, the organization has a problem with resilience.
