Exploration into the resilience of A&E nurses following their involvement in care after a catastrophic event

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore if the resilience of nurses differs following their involvement in care after a catastrophic event. Due to the nature of the job, nurses encounter emotionally traumatic situations regularly which can have dramatic effects on the psychological health of the nurse. Through a robust literature search, it was uncovered that much literature regarding traumatic or ‘catastrophic’ events often highlight the prevalence or effects of secondary traumatic stress (STS) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study differs in that it looks to explore the positive effects of these events by exploring the resilience of the nurse. Resilient individuals are better able to deal with adversity and move on from such catastrophes. It aims to identify if nurses consider there to be a change in this resilience caused by the catastrophic event encountered, and will pay particular attention to the influence of social support on resilience. Finally, it looks to compare support received during their involvement with patients who have experienced a catastrophic event to the support received in accident and emergency day-to-day. The study hopes to fulfil its aims by using individual, semi-structured interviews with ten participants. The proposed study takes place over a six-month period from initiation of the study to the production of a final report. Findings should suggest if there is a difference in the resilience of nurses’ post-catastrophic event and if so, the influence in which social support had on this. As an exploratory study, it hopes to retrieve meaningful description surrounding the phenomena being studied. In doing so, it could identify emerging themes and potentially provide a basis for future studies.