Study: Nurses’ stress, coping behaviors after CPR fails

Editor's Note

A survey of critical care nurses found moderate levels of postcode stress and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms after unsuccessful cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) of patients.

In 490 nurses surveyed, four coping behaviors (ie, denial, self-distraction, self-blame, and behavioral disengagement) were significant predictors of PTSD symptom severity.

Nurses who had institutional debriefing support reported significantly lower postcode stress scores than those without support.

Finding ways to minimize distress and improve resiliency not only helps individual nurses but also may help combat high turnover and vacancy rates for critical care nurses, the authors say.

Conclusions Critical care nurses show moderate levels of postcode stress and PTSD symptoms when asked to recall an unsuccessful resuscitation and the coping behaviors used. Identifying the critical care nurses most at risk for PTSD will inform the development of interventional research to promote critical care nurses' psychological well-being and reduce their attrition from the profession.