PTSD In Nurses

PTDS in Nurses and First Responders It was not until 1980 when the DSM- III was published that PTSD was officially recognized as an anxiety disorder for victims of traumatic incidents (TIs) and not until 1994 when DSM- IV was published it included the witnesses as well. For psychological traits to be classified as PTSD they must satisfy the following: exposure to TI directly causes peritraumatic distress not long after the event, currently re-experiencing TI, avoiding triggers to memories of the scenario with general unresponsiveness, and hyperactivity (Lavoie et al., 2016). With the TI, memories of the event are intruding upon the daily function of the individual through images, thoughts, tastes, sounds, and smells with the flashbacks correlating

Kliem, M-B. Bingisser, Westphal, and R. Bingisser (2015) addressed which TIs were associated with flashback memories, individual and work-related features which correlate with flashbacks, and the associated between flashbacks and anxiety, depression, and emotional exhaustion. The results indicated extreme PTSD prevalence in ER nurses with 65% reporting intrusive memories. Correlations include older age and work conflict (positive), working more consecutive days without time off (negative), and age, gender, relationship status, alcohol and drug consumption (none). Further results indicated recent resuscitations having a 4x increase in PTSD occurrence. Further studies were conducted by Lavoie et al. (2016), where factors intrinsic to the nurse and organization, risk factors for PTSD, and traits that influence the symptoms were studied. Results indicated child death as the most serious and frequent TI. Positive correlations with grief-type TIs in past year, intense fear, helplessness, horror, neuroticism, avoidance coping strategy (weak), negative correlations with previous TI experience, extraversion, seeking social support and problem-solving coping strategies (weak), and no correlation with gender, age, work experience were also noted. Further research done by Bromet et al. (2015) addressed the

Kleim et al. (2015) referenced other studies indicating burnout and stress in medical professionals having a positive correlation with work volume, patient load, number of night shifts, number of consecutive work days as well as females and alcohol consumption having a positive correlation with PTSD presence. The prevalence of physical violence upon ED nurses has been studied and indicates twenty-five percent of ED nurses reporting physical violence occurring more than twenty times in the past three years (Lavoie et al., 2016). Further research in this area is likely to indicate a positive correlation between the two per the above statistic and results of high PTSD. Lavoie et al. (2016) further highlighted the impact on attendance with nurses missing an average of 14.5 work days per year for health-related reasons with 11.6% being attributed to psychological health. These studies in comparison to those referenced in my research are crucial indicators for the need to address PTSD and treat those involved, as well as the need for further research to compile more accurate