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Review
. 2024 Mar;59(1):49-61.
doi: 10.1016/j.cnur.2023.11.006. Epub 2023 Dec 16.

Stress First Aid for Health-care Workers: An Indicated Mental Illness Prevention Program for Nursing Education

Sean P Convoy  1 , Mitchell Heflin  2 , Bernice M Alston  3 , Undi Hoffler  4 , Mary Barzee  3 , Julie Anne Thompson  3 , Richard Westphal  5
Affiliations
Review

Stress First Aid for Health-care Workers: An Indicated Mental Illness Prevention Program for Nursing Education

Sean P Convoy et al. Nurs Clin North Am. 2024 Mar.

Abstract

Spurred by a global pandemic, the incidence and prevalence of stress-related injury and illness continues to increase amid an overburdened nursing workforce that has remarkably and reliably performed on the frontlines of health care. Indicated mental illness prevention programs such as Stress First Aid for Healthcare Workers create an opportunity to target the acute and chronic expressions of stress experienced by nurses earlier through coordinated peer support with the goals of preserving life, preventing further harm, and promoting recovery. This article will describe how a Stress First Aid program was operationalized at a school of nursing at a private university.

Keywords: 4 sources of orange zone stress; Indicated mental illness prevention; Peer support; Stress First Aid for Healthcare Workers; Stress continuum; Stress injury.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure Support for the program, from which this article evolves, came from the HRSA through a 109 Cooperative Agreement (Award Number: 1 U3NHP45396-01-00) funded by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 P L. 117 to 2, Section 2703 42 U.S C. § 295.