Hull's victory at the KC Stadium on Saturday was their first top-flight triumph since winning 1-0 at QPR on the opening a day of the season.
In the five Premier League matches between the two wins, Hull have surrendered winning positions to draw against Stoke City, West Ham and Newcastle United, while they also let a lead slip in the closing stages of the League Cup loss at West Brom.
However, Mohamed Diame's fierce header in the 60th minute and Nikica Jelavic's calmly taken goal in the closing stages earned Hull a welcome three points, much to the delight of manager Bruce.
"It's so unlike us [to throw away leads]," Bruce said.
"We've gone to Newcastle and scored two, we're 2-0 up with 15 minutes to play, we were 2-1 up at West Brom in a cup tie with three minutes to play, we were 2-1 up against West Ham with three minutes to play and we were 1-0 up against Stoke with six or seven minutes I think to play.
"So it's been a frustration that we haven't held on to what could have been a wonderful start to the season.
"Thankfully we held on and showed that resiliency which you need against a difficult team to play against.
"Defensively they're difficult to break down, they drop everybody deep and play one striker up front and even he plays in a midfield area, so you have to be a bit patient."
Palace's best spell arguably came after Diame's opener and Bruce admits he feared that another draw was on the cards.
"We made a bit of hard work of it," he added.
"We went a bit nervous and edgy but I suppose considering what we've done in the last month it's understandable.
"But we showed resiliency and determination, we didn't make any big mistakes that has cost us in recent weeks."
