The objectives of this study were to synthesize the national and international scientific publications on resilience and oncology nursing and to discuss the application of resilience in nursing practice. Resilience has its origin in the Latin "resilience" meaning recover from or adjust to, change, to be pushed back, recover its size and shape, and to break. A systematic literature review was conducted in the PubMed (Public Medical), MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online), LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature), BDENF (Base de Dados de Enfermagem "Nursing Database"), and the web sites of the Oncology Nursing Society and the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care. Key words in English and in Portuguese included "Resilience AND Nursing," "Resilience AND Cancer AND Oncology," "Resilience AND Nursing AND Cancer AND Oncology." From the 116 publications retrieved, only 5 publications were on oncology nursing. There was a gap in the use of the concept of resilience in oncology nursing in Latin American publications. In addition, the study and use of the concept resilience in the international publications continue in incipient phase. Thus, there is a need for discussions regarding the use of resilience in oncology nursing.
Oncology nursing; Resilience; Review