A nurse in the emergency room is responsible for responding to crises involving school children and has spent many days in local schools helping grieving students who have lost peers or teachers unexpectedly

Question

She is also exposed daily to the victims of horrible accidents and other physical and emotional traumas. Which of the following would be most important for her to address in periodic clinical supervision? a. Vicarious traumatization
b. Evidence-based interventions
c. Research on crisis response
d. Physiological response to crises

Answer 1

A
Persons who work with survivors of trauma are indirectly—vicariously—exposed to trauma themselves and can experience the same sort of responses as those who experience trauma directly, especially as their exposure to such second-hand trauma accumulates. This phenomenon is called vicarious traumatization, and a nurse working repeatedly with traumatized students would be at risk. An emergency room nurse also experiences trauma directly in the process of caring for those who have been injured by traumatic events. Critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) is helpful and indicated for crisis counselors and others at risk for vicarious traumatization, just as it is for emergency responders at risk for posttraumatic stress disorder. Although all of the topics listed would be appropriate for discussion during supervision, focusing on the prevention of vicarious traumatization would be most important because it is essential to preserving the nurse's physical and psychological well-being.