Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Feb;26(1):e12767.
doi: 10.1111/ijn.12767. Epub 2019 Jul 21.

Secondary traumatic stress among emergency nurses: Prevalence, predictors, and consequences

Hamza Fathi Ratrout  1 , Ayman M Hamdan-Mansour  2
Affiliations

Secondary traumatic stress among emergency nurses: Prevalence, predictors, and consequences

Hamza Fathi Ratrout et al. Int J Nurs Pract. 2020 Feb.

Abstract

Background: Nurses working in emergency units are in direct contact with traumatic events. Trauma effects do not solely affect patients and their caregivers and, rather, extend to secondarily influence nurses themselves. Secondary exposure to trauma may result in symptoms similar to symptoms experienced by the patient themselves. No previous study investigated the secondary traumatic stress among emergency nurses in Jordan.

Purpose: To identify prevalence, predictors, and consequences of secondary traumatic stress among nurses working in emergency departments.

Method: A descriptive correlation design was utilized to collect data using self-report questionnaires from 202 nurses working at eight emergency departments in Jordan.

Findings: The study revealed that almost half of the sample reported high to severe levels of secondary traumatic stress. The analyses showed that nurses who demonstrated lower empathy (P = .016) and greater coping capacity (P < .001) tended to develop more secondary traumatic stress. Organizational factors were not significant predictors of secondary traumatic stress.

Conclusion: A significant proportion of emergency nurses suffer secondary traumatic stress that is found also to be associated with psychical factors. Emergency nurses need to consider the consequences of secondary traumatic stress on their health and quality of care provided.

Keywords: emergency department; nurses; prediction; prevalence; secondary traumatic stress.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. AbuRuz, M. E. (2014). A comparative study about the impact of stress on job satisfaction between Jordanian and Saudi nurses. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 10, 162-172.
    1. Adriaenssens, J., De Gucht, V., & Maes, S. (2012). The impact of traumatic events on emergency room nurses: Findings from a questionnaire survey. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 49, 1411-1422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2012.07.003
    1. American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596
    1. Beck, C. T., & Gable, R. K. (2012). A mixed methods study of secondary traumatic stress in labor and delivery nurses. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing, 4, 747-760. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1552-6909.2012.01386.x
    1. Brayfield, A. H., & Rothe, H. F. (1951). An index of job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 35, 307-311. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0055617

LinkOut - more resources