CE Module: Post Traumatic Stress Disorders in Intensive Care Unit Nurses: A Concept Analysis

This issue of Workplace Health & Safety contains a Continuing Nursing Education Module for 1.0 contact hour of continuing nursing education credit will be awarded by AAOHN upon successful completion of the posttest and evaluation.

A certificate will be awarded when the following requirements are met by the participant: (1) Participant logs on to the AAOHN LMS website at www.aaohn.org/education/online-learning-center and enrolls in the course ($10 members; $15 non-members); (2) The completed posttest and course evaluation are entered online at http://www.aaohn.org by May 2023; (3) A score of 75% (6 correct answers) is achieved by the participant.

Upon completion of this lesson, the occupational health nurse will be able to:

• Identify the symptom clusters experienced by individuals suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD).

• Discuss the adverse effects of ICU nurses with PTSD.

The American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc. is an Approved Provider of continuing nursing education by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc., an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. The American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc. is additionally approved as a CNE provider by the California Board of Registered Nursing (#CEP9283).

Contact hours received for successful completion of the posttest and evaluation may be used for relicensure, certification, and re-certification.

1. When ICU nurses suffer from PTSD:

2. Patients benefit because of increased empathy expressed by the ICU nurses.

3. Only the nurses’ psychological health is affected.

4. It prevents the nurses from feeling burnout.

ICU nurses suffer less from PTSD than general nurses:

True

False

Stressors and traumas suffered by ICU nurses include:

Performing what they consider ‘futile’ patient care

Performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation and watching patients suffer

Frequently witnessing death and serious injury

All the above

The American Psychiatric Association first included “post-traumatic stress” disorder (PTSD) to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders:

After soldiers returned traumatized from World War I

After soldiers returned home from the Iraqi war

After ICU nurses started exhibiting symptoms of ‘shellshock’

After large amounts of Vietnam veterans were affected with chronic psychological stress

When ICU nurses suffer from symptoms of PTSD:

Only psychological health is affected

Have physical symptoms that correspond to irritable bowel syndrome

Both psychological and physical health are directly affected

All of the above

The authors chose the Walker and Avant’s concept analysis because an analysis is beneficial when it stays the same over time, making it more rigorous:

True

False

Inclusion criteria for the concept analysis included:

Articles that discussed PTSD in veterans of the Vietnam War

Articles that compared PTSD symptoms in males versus females

Articles in peer-reviewed journals that evaluated PTSD and psychological stress in ICU

Articles in peer reviewed journals that were written in Spanish and English

Found no implications for OHNs in their concept analysis

Found that symptoms of PTSD lasting longer than one month should be addressed as soon as possible

Discovered that PTSD is not a critical problem for ICU nurses

Reported that ICU nurses are immune from PTSD because of the high stress environment they work in