Examining the Lived Experience of Secondary Traumatic Stress in Emergency Department Nurses – Psychiatry AI: Real-Time AI Scoping Review

AI Summary

Continuous exposure to patient trauma places ED nurses at high risk of secondary traumatic stress, impairing coping and increasing anxiety, depression, and workforce attrition.
Phenomenological interviews with 23 bedside ED nurses identified five impact themes and three coping themes, revealing pervasive personal and professional consequences.
Recommend introducing STS education during nursing orientation so nurses adopt coping strategies proactively, reducing negative effects before they arise.

Adv Emerg Nurs J. 2026 Jul 10. doi: 10.1097/TME.0000000000000638. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Emergency department (ED) nurses care for patients during critical times: violence, trauma, death, etc. Continuous exposure increases risk for secondary traumatic stress (STS): negative reaction experienced by someone with an indirect exposure to trauma. This impairs their ability to cope, increases levels of anxiety/depression, and increases attrition. Using a phenomenological design, the researcher interviewed 23 bedside ED nurses in Missouri and/or Illinois, USA. Five themes emerged: patient care, relationships at work, life outside the hospital, impacting on a personal level, and residual stress. Three themes emerged related to coping strategies: positive, dysfunctional, and debriefing as a coping strategy. Nurses are impacted by STS in numerous areas of their lives and rely on both positive and negative coping strategies to help mitigate the negative effects. Hospitals should introduce the concept of STS during nursing orientation so nurses may be able to implement coping strategies before negative effects are experienced.

PMID:42429662 | DOI:10.1097/TME.0000000000000638

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