Trauma-Informed Training Can Improve Outcomes for Nurses and Patients

• A study presented last month at the American Psychiatric Nurses Association conference found benefits in trauma-informed training for nurses and their patients.
• Four Vanderbilt University School of Nursing faculty members conducted the study, combining trauma- and community-resiliency models with Psychiatric Mental Health Practitioners as their focus.
• However, the use of trauma-informed care can benefit other specialties, such as hospice care.

Grounding and self-regulation are among the most-used techniques nurses employ to calm their nervous system, according to a study presented at last month’s American Psychiatric Nurses Association conference. But those same techniques can also help patients.

The research, first published in February 2024, focused on psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs), who the authors stated have “the least favorable combination of low compassion satisfaction and high secondary traumatic stress.”

Four Vanderbilt University School of Nursing faculty members conducted the study, combining trauma- and community-resiliency models. The project findings, the authors stated, “underscore the potential for shaping a new generation of PMHNPs who are not only more adept at managing the emotional and psychological toll of the profession but are also more prepared to offer trauma-informed care to their patients.” 

The Study on Trauma-Informed Training

PMHNPs participated in a Trauma Resource Institute training program that incorporated “resiliency strategies into their clinical and self-care practices,” according to a Clinical Advisor report.

The Trauma Resiliency Model teaches skills that help people navigate “traumatic stress reactions” by focusing on the “biological basis of trauma” and survival response. Meanwhile, the Community Resiliency Model focuses on training community members to help themselves and others with the goal of resetting “the natural balance of the nervous system.”

Grounding and self-regulation were found to be “most impactful for clinical practice,” while those techniques along with breathing, resourcing, grounding, and self-regulation were beneficial for self-care, Clinical Advisor stated. However, some participants also believe the techniques would be helpful for patients.

One PMHNP who works at a county jail said she hopes to bring the skills she’s gained through the study to her job.

“We have a detox program and provide psychiatric care,” the participant stated in the study. “I am the first PMHNP at the jail and working to initiate CRM strategies at this time.” 

The Bigger Picture of Trauma-Informed Training

Though this study focused on PMHNPs, other specialties can also benefit from trauma-informed care. Amber Ash, a pediatric hospice and palliative care social worker at Hospice of the Western Reserve in Ohio, told Hospice News that it should be part of interdisciplinary training for hospice workers.

“There is a positive return on investment, both with retention and with patient and family satisfaction,” Ash said. “We’re able to meet that patient where they’re at and look at things from a trauma-informed lens. Not only is it better care for patients, but also empowering for the clinicians. It’s not another task to complete, but rather something that can actually make their work richer.”

The San Francisco Department of Public Health, for example, implemented its trauma-informed approach in 2018 after a licensed clinical social worker brought the idea to the department’s director. And in February, San Antonio, Texas, received the Level 1 Foundational Trauma Informed Care Organizational Certification for its police and health departments. 

The Bottom Line

A study focused on Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners found that trauma-informed care is helpful not only for practitioners but when used to help patients. These findings also can help nurses in other specialties find more balance in their lives and the lives of the people they care for. Several organizations and medical facilities already have implemented this type of care. 

The program in the study was funded, in part, by a Health Resources and Services Administration grant. 

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