Many people experience trauma due to the loss of control over so many aspects of life. Additionally, many people were forced to deal with worry, loss, and grief as friends and family were affected by the pandemic. As a result, healthcare workers have been scarred by the things they’ve seen and dealt with during the course of the last few years.
Trauma-informed nursing leaders recognize that all people, including themselves, may struggle with current and past traumatic experiences. However, it’s possible for leaders to help facilitate the process of posttraumatic growth, allowing themselves and others to understand trauma and trauma responses. An article in Nursing Management explores the thoughts and opinions of over 100 trauma-informed nursing leaders to identify trends and experiences that could help many people move forward.
Identifying four specific needs for recovery
The leaders who participated in this research were interviewed in both virtual discussions and roundtable talks. They included leaders from academia and clinical services settings. During the discussions, four key needs were identified by leaders:
- The need to strengthen leaders’ ability to consistently support their teams,
- The need to focus on self-care as fundamental to leading and supporting others,
- The need to cultivate peer support for leaders, and
- The need to identify and leverage strengths to lead going forward and support growth and healing.
These needs were met with varying success among the leaders interviewed. The uncertainty of the pandemic impacted every member of the healthcare team, but many leaders noted that they put their own needs aside in favor of supporting their team members.
Significantly, many of the leaders interviewed responded with concern that they and their teams weren’t prepared for the extreme and overwhelming situation caused by COVID-19. They described having to “learn on the fly”. After reflecting about the progress made since the start of the pandemic, they expressed pride in their accomplishments.
Still, one of the most important things a leader can do is take steps to recognize signs of trauma in their team members. Then, they can respond with compassion and support.
Identifying anxiety and responding appropriately
Most healthcare team members experienced increased rates of anxiety related to COVID-19, and many still struggle today. Anxiety comes from a variety of sources, such as:
- Inadequate access to PPE
- Lack of access to information
- Uncertainty that the organization will support personal or family needs
Five common requests from employees were identified: hear me, protect me, prepare me, support me, and care for me. Every nurse leader must understand that they must be emotionally present and accessible to team members for each of these purposes. This helps facilitate the process of healing among staff members and can help people adapt to the new normal.
Using a relational framework for self-care and team support
Self-care is important for nurse leaders to be able to respond to their teams’ needs. Four practices — attuning, wondering, following, and holding — can support connection, compassionate presence, creative actions, and active listening.
- Attuning may be viewed as being present in the moment. It is essential for human connection.
- Wondering, on the other hand, is the practice of curiosity and genuine interest in what’s happening to yourself and others.
- Following is the practice of quiet listening and staying with what we hear or notice.
- Holding means creating a safe space in which a person experiences feeling seen and heard.
These four relational skills require nurse leaders to slow down, put aside tasks temporarily, and avoiding jumping to answers. This helps the process of posttraumatic growth, which can lead to positive change in different aspects of life.
Even though thinking of traumatic experiences may cause future distress or pain, living through them and growing from the experience can provide greater meaning and purpose. Trauma-informed nurse leaders can help cultivate the right conditions for posttraumatic growth while guiding their team members forward into the future of healthcare.
- Nursing Management (Springhouse): December 2021 - Volume 52 - Issue 12 - p 28-34
doi: 10.1097/01.NUMA.0000800336.39811.a3
