Some nurses have PTSD symptoms

[db2xs]

This is a great read from NPR: Some Nurses Have PTSD Symptoms From Working In Hospitals : Shots - Health News : NPR

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

I think it is very important to differentiate between true PTSD and stress, grief, anxiety, or other conditions. As the mother of a sailor who was in the bombing on the USS Cole in the Gulf of Aden in 2000, I have difficulty when any stressful or grief-related situation is automatically categorized as PTSD. Trauma is being attacked, being raped, being exposed to the horrors of a tsunami, enduring a terrible auto accident, perhaps even witnessing a violent event. It has many, many origins, but it is not the same as stress or grief. It is not the same as nurse burnout, or anxiety from working in a chronically stressful unit. It is not something one develops, as I was told by a co-worker, "when I lost my grandma...we were really close!" It is a disservice to sufferers of each of those specific conditions to classify everything under the catch-phrase PTSD as we see commonly done now. Just food for thought.

Thank you.

A someone who has PTSD from a trauma, work-related stress is MUCH different from PTSD; could it exacerbate and trigger my symptoms? Perhaps, however I can tell the difference between stress and PTSD symptoms.

That is also not to say nurses can't desktop PTSD; one can develop PTSD from the repeated stimulus of extreme stressful events that affect the human psyche, especially if the stimulus triggers feelings of helplessness and loss of control; I am very reflective as to many people in distressed communities with high violence are predisposed to PTSD as well.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

The prevalence and impact of post traumatic stress disorder and burnout syndrome in nurses. - PubMed - NCBI

This study differentiates between PTSD, Burned Out Syndrome, and plain stress. Nurses, especially those in high- acuity high pressure units, are at high risk for both. Part of the reason is a repeated exposure to a strong negative stimulus - forced and futile end of life cares, traumatic and abrupt deaths, lateral violence- all in a pressure cooker of a profession that offers very little resilience training, coping assistance, or stress management techniques. Mental health days are not recognized, many workplaces do not debrief, and afflicted nurses are booted out and replaced with cheaper, idealistic, newer versions.

Also, PTSD is not reserved for sevicemembers only. The DSM has specific criteria for diagnosis, and a surprisingly notable population of nurses meet the criteria.

Finally, many of those come into nursing because of their specific personality type - caregiver, selfless martyr, angel of mercy etc. This may also predispose them to PTSD.

I was about to reference this study; thank you for posting it.

I remember reading an article many years ago where there were "debriefing teams" for nurses that have experienced stressful events that helped with retention and decreased burnout; I wonder if the implementation of those teams would help, instead of cutting staff, having people trained to debrief as well as support for the debriefing team would have a great affect in ensuring decrease in stress, in conjunction with EAP.

[la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN]

It's essentially a paid marketing gimmick. Sure, the claims are that it's better nursing care, but in reality it's not always the case.

Thank you for posting that as I think I've read that before and it was a good refresher. I am actually a hopeful candidate for a residency program at a Magnet facility and, as I only work as an aide and not yet as an RN, I am not fully privy to the drawbacks of a facility having Magnet recognition. I know that there are different models to follow and standards to meet in addition to standard Joint Commission accreditation and that might be a pain having to meet additional standards but I am still struggling to see what bears out in terms of the negative manifestations of Magnet status. I have only seen people laugh or scoff at the notion of a facility working toward achieving Magnet status or having already achieved it but no one has said why that is negative.

On the other hand, I can't really say what differences there are that are positive manifestations of Magnet status. The RNs I work with seem satisfied and happy with their work for the most part compared to other facilities I've worked at and it just seems like people are more on board with team nursing models and with evidence based practice overall. There is a definite sense that, if something, no matter how small or big needs changing, if enough people work together on it, it will change and that can't be too terrible, can it?

I do work with some RNs who also work at unionized facilities and they have mentioned the union is preferable to them, but again, no clear reason as to why.

I guess I'll just have to wait and see what it all really means.

[nurseinthezoo]

Battle hardened vets may have the thousand yard stare, but some nurses exhibit the thousand patient stare.

[poopylala, BSN, RN]

I was hit by a hallucinating patient one day and the next day, a restrained pt fisted her hands as I took her blood sugar which caused me to take a step away so I wouldn't be hit only for her to kick me in the stomach. Ive been a PCA for only a few months and I'm just about to graduate nursing school. I'm very surprised at how much being hit and kicked has affected me in that I'm extremely nervous every time I take a blood sugar from a comatose patient. I work in the icu so of course this is a common issue for me. I'm not sure what it's classified as other than anxiety but I can see PTSD in nurses from what they experience.