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Introduction: Nurses, assuming a wide range of clinical and patient care responsibilities in a healthcare team, are highly susceptible to direct and indirect exposure to traumatic experiences. However, literature has shown that nurses with certain traits developed a new sense of personal strength in the face of adversity, known as post-traumatic growth (PTG). This review aimed to synthesize the best available evidence to evaluate personal and work-related factors associated with PTG among nurses., Design: Mixed studies systematic review., Methods: Studies examining factors influencing PTG on certified nurses from all healthcare facilities were included. Published and unpublished studies were identified by searching 12 databases from their inception until 4th February 2023. Two reviewers independently screened, appraised, piloted a data collection form, and extracted relevant data. Meta-summary, meta-synthesis, meta-analysis, as well as subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed. Integration of results followed result-based convergent design., Results: A total of 98 studies with 29,706 nurses from 18 countries were included. These included 49 quantitative, 42 qualitative, and seven mixed-methods studies. Forty-six influencing factors were meta-analyzed, whereas nine facilitating factors were meta-summarized. A PTG conceptual map was created. Four constructs emerged from the integration synthesis: (a) personal system, (b) work-related system, (c) event-related factors, and (d) cognitive transformation., Conclusion: The review findings highlighted areas healthcare organizations could do to facilitate PTG in nurses. Practical implications include developing intervention programs based on PTG facilitators. Further research should examine the trend of PTG and its dynamic response to different nursing factors., Clinical Relevance: Research on trauma-focused therapies targeting nurses' mental health is lacking. Therefore, findings from this review could inform healthcare organizations on the PTG phenomenon and developing support measures for nurses through healthcare policies and clinical practice., (© 2024 Sigma Theta Tau International.)

Background: Individuals who experience a workplace trauma are at a high risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Most of these people return to work soon after the trauma (i.e., experience early-stage natural exposure). This study aims to explore the response pattern of workers who have experienced a workplace trauma and early-stage natural exposure through network analysis and provide insights into the potential impact of early-stage natural exposure., Methods: Our study included 278 workers directly experiencing the workplace explosion in the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Zone. A partial correlation network analysis was used to explore the PTSD symptoms relationship and identify central symptoms., Results: The results suggest that emotional numbness, difficulty in concentration, re-experiencing symptoms, and avoidance of thoughts are the most central symptoms, reflecting a "distraction-avoidance" pattern., Conclusions: The current study found that workers who experienced workplace trauma exhibited a "distraction-avoidance" pattern, which helps deepen our understanding of the PTSD network and leads to some suggestions on intervention measures., (© 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: After a traumatic incident in the workplace organisations want to provide support for their employees to prevent PTSD. However, what is safe and effective to offer has not yet been established, despite many organisations offering some form of intervention after a traumatic event. Objective: To systematically review the evidence for post-incident psychosocial interventions offered within one month of a workplace trauma, and to compare the content, effectiveness and acceptability of these interventions. Given the lack of a yet clearly established evidence-base in this field, we sought to examine both published empirical research as well as guidelines published by expert groups working with staff in high-risk roles. Methods: We conducted systematic searches for empirical research across bibliographic databases and searched online for clinical practice guidelines to April 2023. We were also referred to potentially relevant literature by experts in workplace trauma. Both empirical research and clinical guidelines were appraised for their quality. Results: A total of 80 research studies and 11 clinical practice guidelines were included in the review. Interventions included Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD), Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM), unspecified Debriefing, Trauma Risk Management (TRiM), Psychological First Aid (PFA), EMDR, CBT and group counselling. Most research and guidance were of poor quality. The findings of this review do not demonstrate any harm caused by CISD, CISM, PFA, TRiM, EMDR, group counselling or CBT interventions when delivered in a workplace setting. However, they do not conclusively demonstrate benefits of these interventions nor do they establish superiority of any specific intervention. Generic debriefing was associated with some negative outcomes. Current clinical guidelines were inconsistent with the current research evidence base. Nevertheless, interventions were generally valued by workers. Conclusions: Better quality research and guidance is urgently needed, including more detailed exploration of the specific aspects of delivery of post-incident interventions.

Aims: Among nursing professionals, our aims were to examine (a) self-reported traumatic experiences, (b) differences in post-traumatic growth (i.e. positive psychological growth after experiencing a traumatic event) by nursing professional level and (c) demographic, work-related, behavioural and traumatic experience covariates of post-traumatic growth., Background: Trauma experience among nursing professionals is higher than observed in the general population. Due to the nature of their work environment, workplace trauma rates are particularly alarming. Understanding post-traumatic growth among nursing professionals may guide interventions to enhance well-being., Method: A secondary analysis of cross-sectional survey data from nursing professionals (N = 299). Demographic, work-related, behavioural, trauma experience categories and post-traumatic growth variables were examined., Results: Advanced practice nurses and clinical nurses reported higher rates of workplace trauma, as compared to nursing assistants. Higher post-traumatic growth scores were associated with having a postgraduate degree, serving the paediatric population and lower frequency of alcohol use. Lower post-traumatic growth scores were associated with being married/widowed, being an advanced practice provider or clinical nurse, working in the intensive care unit and reporting workplace, family/personal stress and undisclosed trauma., Conclusions: Nursing professionals have several demographic, work-related, behavioural and traumatic experience-related variables associated with and that explain variances in post-traumatic growth., Implication for Nursing Management: Targeted screening and individualized treatment based on nursing professional level should be considered to support trauma recovery and post-traumatic growth., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background and Methods: In this study, we surveyed 761 psychiatric hospital staff (69% women, 71% full-time, 56% nursing) regarding their exposure to trauma in the workplace; symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety; help seeking; and perceived barriers for help seeking., Results: Significant proportions of staff met the screening cutoffs for probable PTSD (16%), depression (20%), and anxiety (16%). Comorbidity was high, with approximately half of those meeting the screening cutoff for PTSD also meeting the cutoffs for depression or anxiety. Only PTSD symptoms were uniquely associated with exposure to trauma in the workplace, but both PTSD and depression symptoms significantly predicted help seeking. Staff who met one or more screening cutoffs perceived more barriers to help seeking such as difficulty with accessing services., Conclusion: Implications for supporting psychiatric staff exposed to trauma are discussed.

Background: Although numerous studies on occupational post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been conducted prior to the 1950-2010 seminal systematic review by Skogstad et al., the prevalence, risk factors, and impact of this disorder following traumatic events in occupational settings remain unclear. This study aims to address this knowledge gap by reviewing the literature published after 2010., Methods: We reviewed literature from databases such as PubMed and Google Scholar using PRISMA guidelines to identify studies that address occupational PTSD and examined the status (prevalence or incidence), the risk factors, and the health effects of PTSD among workers., Results: In total, 123 articles were identified, and finally, 31 (25.2%) articles were selected after excluding duplicates. Various occupational traumatic physical events were reported such as natural or manmade disaster, explosion, accident, handling refugee corpses, or bullying at work. Risk of PTSD was closely associated with working conditions, severity of injury, history of mental disorder, occurrence of psychiatric symptoms at the time of the event, personality, interpersonal relationships, etc. Workers with PTSD were likely to experience a deterioration of physical and psychological health and impairment of social and occupational functioning., Conclusions: Our review suggests that many workers remain highly vulnerable to occupational PTSD and its consequences.

Various psychological trauma management programs (PTMPs) are offered to assist employees who have been exposed to a traumatic event in the workplace. There is, however, limited literature available on how employees in high-risk occupations experience these programs. This study qualitatively explored the experiences of PTMPs from the perspective of employees working in three high-risk occupations. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of the participants in order to compile a framework that could help support and improve the productivity and wellbeing of employees affected by work-related trauma. The study used a qualitative research design based on an approach informed by interpretivism and social constructivism. A multiple-case study was used as research strategy to incorporate three sectors in South Africa, namely mining, policing, and emergency medical services. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and focus groups, and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings across the three sectors showed effective strategies considered by participants to manage psychological trauma. These strategies include multiple counseling sessions, face-to-face counseling, regaining control, and receiving support. Strategies that were viewed as ineffective include inability of counselors to relate to the participants' work environments, lack of involvement, lack of supervisor support, unavailability of counseling and specialized skills, premature resuming of duties, and a single-dimension approach. Based on the findings, an intervention framework is proposed to address psychological trauma in high-risk occupations., (Copyright © 2020 Jonker, Graupner and Rossouw.)

The purpose of the study was to determine whether post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) among urban public transit employees who were exposed to a workplace traumatic event is associated with greater PTSD severity over the 6-month follow-up period compared to PTSD without MDD, and also to identify predictors of PTSD severity among these employees. Information about Axis-I diagnosis and PTSD severity were collected from the SCID-I and the Modified PTSD Symptom Scale (MPSS) respectively. PTSD without MDD (N = 29) and PTSD with MDD (N = 37) groups were not significantly different in terms of PTSD severity. The severity of depression (p = 0.01), female (p = 0.01), non-Caucasian (p = 0.01), perceived high workplace related stress (p = 0.02), and history of lifetime trauma (p = 0.01) were significantly associated with greater PTSD severity after controlling other variables. This study highlights the importance of modifiable variables for reducing PTSD severity after a workplace traumatic event in transit employees.

Background: Traumatic events often occur in workplace settings and can lead to stress reactions such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). One such workplace is the transportation industry, where employees are often exposed to trauma. However, extant research shows that a considerable proportion of people with PTSD do not seek specialty mental health treatment., Objective: In this qualitative study, we sought to better understand the experience of a traumatic event at work and the barriers and motivating factors for seeking mental health treatment., Participants: Twenty-nine Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) employees participated in a one-on-one interview, 18 soon after the traumatic event and 11 after entering a specialized treatment program., Methods: Semi-structured, one-on-one interviews were conducting using qualitative description and analyzed using content analysis., Results: Participants described emotional responses after the trauma such as guilt, anger, disbelief as particularly difficult, and explained that barriers to seeking help included the overwhelming amount and timing of paperwork related to the incident as well as negative interactions with management. Motivating factors included family and peer support, as well as financial and emotional issues which persuaded some to seek help., Conclusions: Seeking treatment is a multifactorial process. Implications and recommendations for the organization are discussed.