Experiences of emergency nurses: What has been learned from traumatic and violent events?

摘要

The effects of September 11, 2001 still ring clear in the minds of people worldwide. For emergency nurses, however, serious injuries as a result of traumatic events are a daily occurrence. The purpose of this study was to illuminate and find meaning in the experiences of emergency nurses caring for victims of violent and gruesome events. By using a qualitative phenomenological approach based on van Manen's methodology, this study sought to uncover the essence of emergency nursing, discover what that essence means for five participants and identify the most effective coping strategies the participants' devised when faced with traumatic and violent events. These five women are direct-care Registered Nurses who worked in a Level I Trauma Center in one of the five boroughs of New York City.;The conceptual framework for the study was based on the Roy Adaptation Model (RAM). Ten themes emerged from the analysis of the interviews: behavioral manifestations, communication, empathy, humor, knowledge and skills, pediatric distress, support of peers and family, teamwork, uncertainty, and workload. The themes were categorized according to the four modes of RAM, a method of evaluating the participants' experiences that revealed their various coping strategies and underlined similarities and differences in these coping strategies. The significance and implications of these findings leads to recommendations for further studies in the areas of nursing research, practice, and education.