Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in ICU patient survivors: an education strategy for Registered Nurses working in the Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

The need for critical care and the experience of being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) may be a traumatic event with long lasting psychological consequences for patients and their families (Hatch, McKechnie, & Griffiths, 2011). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) does not manifest itself while the patient is still in the ICU, therefore Registered Nurses (RN) do not have an awareness that it occurs days, months, even years following discharge. This project’s purpose was to develop an interactive, evidence-based one-hour education session to increase awareness of PTSD and build the capacity of RN’s working in the critical care environment. The findings concluded that there is a need for this education, and that by building capacity in RN’s there is potential to improve safety, outcomes, and quality of life for ICU patient survivors.