Post-traumatic stress disorder in nurses: An integrative review

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Psychiatry
• Mental Health

Background:

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric condition linked to traumatic event exposure.
• Nurses face elevated PTSD risk due to direct/indirect exposure to trauma in patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize literature on PTSD prevalence in registered nurses.
• To identify factors associated with work-related PTSD among nurses.

Main Methods:

• Integrative literature review utilizing PubMed and CINAHL databases.
• Thematic synthesis of 24 articles following PRISMA guidelines.
• Data analyzed through reduction, display, comparison, and verification.

Main Results:

• PTSD prevalence in nurses varied significantly across studies ('All Over the Board'), likely due to measurement differences.
• Key influencing factors emerged as 'The Workplace Matters,' 'Relationships Matter,' 'It Hurts to Care,' and 'Interpersonal Strengths.'
• These factors operate at organizational, interpersonal, and intrapersonal levels.

Conclusions:

• PTSD is an increasing concern within the nursing profession.
• Findings offer a framework for interventions to mitigate PTSD risk in inpatient nurses.
• Addressing multi-level factors can reduce PTSD impact and enhance nurse well-being.