Using PEARLS to Guide Supportive Conversations With Nursing Students After Clinical Related Critical Incidents

Undergraduate nursing students are at risk of exposure to clinical related critical incidents. The risk of exposure to critical incidents coupled with the potential for re-traumatization from past personal experiences adds complexity to teaching and learning in the clinical environment.

Providing clinical nurse educators with tools to facilitate timely and supportive conversations with students who have experienced clinical related critical incidents are imperative. The Promoting Excellence and Reflective Learning in Simulation (PEARLS) framework, with emphasis of a trauma-informed approach (TIA), may be used by clinical educators to guide supportive conversations with students who have experienced these unexpected events.

Clinical educators' use of the PEARLS debriefing framework underpinned by a TIA creates opportunities for students to express their initial emotions, explore new insights, and navigate next steps.

Supporting nursing students after a clinical related critical incident requires educators to be flexible and adaptable by offering individualized and personalized assistance to learners.