Trauma informed education in nursing: A call for action

Abstract

Principles of trauma-informed care and resiliency building guides this call to action for trauma awareness in nursing education, aiming to guide nursing educators, researchers, and leaders in support, retention, and building foundational skill-sets in a now traumatized nursing student population. Nursing students have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in documented trauma, complicated grief, depression, anxiety, and secondary stress syndrome. Students entering health care in a new landscape of ongoing trauma and chronic stress exposure require a shift in the nurse educators' role and position. Extensive outcome-based synthesis of trauma-informed education in other disciplines served as basis to create a pedagogical context using the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) framework for trauma-informed schools. Utilizing Watson's strategies for human caring theory in nursing education, a trauma-informed pedagogy is proposed for nurse educators. This framework for nurse educators and leaders will assist in navigating how to approach trauma-informed education in the context of higher education in nursing. It is time for a paradigm shift in nursing education towards a more collaborative, relational model with students, based on trauma-informed care; where trauma awareness and the impact on one's being serves purpose for the nursing student.

Keywords: Trauma informed education; Trauma-informed care; Trauma-informed curriculum.