Any PTSD from nursing?

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Specializes in BNAT instructor, ICU, Hospice,triage.

Just wondering if there are others out there too.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Definitely. This is a 'thing' in nursing.... here is a recent article in PubMed but is being called many different things like 'compassion fatigue' and 'cumulative stress disorder'. If you look at the links to similar articles on that page, you can see that this has been recognized and is being studied all over the world.

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YES. Definitely, yes, yes, yes.

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.

It wasn't the nursing it was some of my co-workers but definitely yes.

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Specializes in Medical ICU, Coronary Care Unit, Med Onc.

Absolutely! I am struggling from this as well.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I'm pretty sure I had it---I was a total stress-monkey during my career, which ended too early due to both physical and mental issues. I still wake up nights sometimes with my heart in my throat, thinking I've missed something critical with a patient.....until I wake up a little more and realize I don't have to do that anymore. :)

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I don't think it's PTSD exactly, but I have been more and more frequently having nightmares about my patients dying because I forgot something. Never about actively making a mistake, always forgetting.

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This site talks more about this subject: Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project

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I'm quite certain that I don't have anything close to PTSD, but I will have nightmares that my loved ones have the same illnesses that my clients have. For instance, I cared for a gentleman with Alzheimer's and had several dreams that my parents had it too. Odd thing is, I didn't feel that stressed about it while I was at work.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

Here are some experiences posted in the past about this subject:

https://allnurses.com/nursing-activism-healthcare/ptsd-amp-nurses-936679.html

https://allnurses.com/emergency-nursing/ptsd-in-nurses-966171.html

I think that PTSD can occur; in most cases it has been referred to as secondary PTSD.

Depending on what places one works, there are resources for debriefing when that happens; also employee assistance programs (EAP) is also a good resource to help debrief as well if there is not a dedicated debriefing system in place.

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Yes. I have considerable PTSD from being a nurse just a short time. It has greatly exaggerated my depression/anxiety issues, and affects me outside of work and causes me to dread coming back. I don't think people realize how much stress we have to deal with and that it really does affect us. It affects me all the time, and not in a good way.

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