Highlights
- •Insufficient resource trauma, a new form of nurse-specific trauma, is present when needed resources are lacking.
- •Psychological trauma affecting nurses may be avoidable or unavoidable.
- •Outcomes of psychological trauma indicate nurses' mental health and career issues that need to be addressed.
Abstract
Objective
To describe nurses' personal and professional psychological trauma.
Methods
A content analysis of 372 responses surrounding personal and professional trauma was
performed.
Results
Five themes emerged. A new type of trauma was uncovered, heretofore undescribed in
the literature: insufficient resource trauma caused by a lack of resources and staff needed to render quality, safe care.
Conclusion
Nurses' reports were vivid, frequently indicating they were still recovering from
traumatic experiences. Professional sources of trauma were categorized as inherent
in the role of the nurse and those that could be mitigated through organizational
policy, adequate resources, and oversight.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: April 15, 2020
Accepted:
April 14,
2020
Received in revised form:
April 14,
2020
Received:
February 29,
2020
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Published by Elsevier Inc.
