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Managing Capacity in Healthcare: Resilience Lessons for Nurses

Writer's picture: Claire PhillipsClaire Phillips

As a new ER nurse, I had a meltdown that I’ll never forget. One snowy February morning in Minneapolis, I was running late for work. After slipping on the stairs and landing in a snowbank, I rushed to my car only to scrape the side mirror off against a brick wall while backing out of my driveway. Cue instant sobbing.


Paramedic in red uniform enters a hospital carrying a medical case. Ambulance visible outside. Text reads "RETTUNGSDIENST." Bright corridor.

But the broken mirror wasn’t the real issue. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back—a sign that I had exceeded my capacity. Looking back with years of experience and training in systems thinking, I can see that my life as a system was overloaded. I was trying to live as if I were still a nursing student, despite the added cognitive load and responsibility of being a new ER nurse. Something had to give.


What Is Capacity?


Every system—whether it’s a healthcare organization, an oxygen tank, or your personal life—has a capacity. When you exceed that capacity, cracks begin to show. To expand a system’s capacity, you need to make structural or relational changes.


Let’s take an oxygen tank as an analogy. In the hospital, you want the tank in the green zone—not too full, risking a burst, and not too empty, risking failure before the job is done. Your life operates the same way. Pushing past your limits into the red zone isn’t sustainable, but letting your capacity drop too low can leave you disengaged and unmotivated.


So, ask yourself: What percent capacity are you operating at right now?


Recognizing When You’ve Hit Your Limit


My meltdown was a turning point. It forced me to reflect on my life’s capacity and make intentional adjustments. I realized I was operating at 90-95% capacity, and it wasn’t sustainable. Scaling back to 80% allowed me to manage my responsibilities without burning out or feeling listless.


This balance is critical for changemakers. Your efforts need to be sustainable and engaging. Too much, and you risk exhaustion. Too little, and you lose momentum.


Practical Strategies to Manage Your Capacity


If you’re feeling stretched thin, here are a few strategies to help you manage your capacity:

  • Set Boundaries: Identify what’s essential and say no to what’s not. This might mean stepping back from optional commitments during busy periods.

  • Adjust Expectations: If you’re in a high-pressure season, like my nurse leader client, intentionally increase your capacity for a set period. But have a clear cutoff point.

  • Check In Regularly: Reflect on whether your current pace feels sustainable and engaging. If not, make adjustments before burnout sets in.

  • Make Structural Changes: Like systems in healthcare, your life might need reorganization. Can you delegate tasks? Automate repetitive chores? Build in more recovery time?


But it is VERY important to me that I am clear: Nurses must not shoulder the responsibility of becoming resilient professionals without parallel responsibility from their institutions to become resilient systems. This is a topic for another post, but one that is essential for both nurses and healthcare organizations to understand. 


The Role of Resilience Thinking


Resilience thinking, a subset of systems thinking, teaches us to design systems that can absorb shocks and adapt to challenges. In your personal and professional life, this means:

  • Creating margins for rest and recovery.

  • Building support systems to share the load.

  • Adapting your workflow to match your current capacity.


Changemaking is demanding, but when you align your efforts with your capacity, you can sustain your impact over the long term.


Reflect on Your Capacity


Take a moment to ask yourself:

  • What percent capacity am I operating at right now?

  • Does this pace feel sustainable?

  • Am I sufficiently engaged, or am I edging toward burnout or boredom?

Answering these questions can help you recalibrate and find your green zone.


Take the Next Step


Your life is like an oxygen tank—it needs to be in the green zone to function optimally. If this blog resonated with you, I’d encourage you to check out the Nursing the System podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify where this post originated. Dive deeper into this topic and explore other episodes designed to help you build resilience and lead sustainable change.


For weekly tips, strategies, and reflections, don’t forget to sign up for Systems Sunday Email List. Its your go-to resource for managing your capacity, fostering engagement, and navigating complexity with confidence.

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