Caring for trauma victims: the emotional impact

The potential for significant emotional trauma exists for nurses working with trauma victims and their families. There is very little in the nursing literature that addresses the wide range of normal feelings that nurses may experience during or following the care of trauma victims. There is also a scarcity of articles identifying strategies that nurses may employ to assist them through these significant incidents. This article describes the range of feelings that nurses may experience in the course of delivering care and relates these feelings to the traumatic event. Potential aggravating factors are discussed, and strategies are provided that nurses can use to survive the psychologic impact of these incidents and to achieve a higher level of emotional functioning.