APRN Student Perspectives on Learning About Trauma-Informed Care
Trauma-Informed Care: Insights from a Q-Methodology Study of Advanced Practice Registered Nursing Students
If you’ve ever wondered how your students are perceiving instruction related to trauma-informed care, you are not alone. While graduate nursing students recognize the value in learning about trauma-informed care and acknowledge its importance in their future practice, they also have some anxiety and uncertainty related to the topic of trauma-informed care. They may have experienced personal trauma in their own past, or they may be concerned about retraumatization of patients who allude to trauma during healthcare interactions.
Click the article title above to read more about a nursing education study conducted at The Ohio Sate College of Nursing that explored the viewpoints of advanced-practice nursing students on trauma-informed care. Also, as you read, consider Q methodology as an integrated, innovative educational strategy and research method. The TIES Academy can assist OSU College of Nursing faculty with implementation of Q methods in their classroom.
Tornwall, J., Holod, A. F., Teall, A. M., & Overcash, J. (2023). Trauma-informed care: Insights from a Q-methodology study of advanced practice registered nursing students. Nurse Education Today, 133, Article 106043. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2023.106043
Background
Trauma-informed care (TIC) aims to create a safe and supportive healthcare environment that empowers patients and cultivates understanding of the role trauma plays in short-term and long-term health. TIC also has the potential to improve health outcomes and foster clinician wellness. Nurse educators must design evidence-based instruction to develop advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) who deliver high-quality TIC while also protecting their own wellbeing.
Objectives
To identify patterns in subjective viewpoints about TIC among APRN students and describe how those patterns influence their learning experience in an advanced health assessment course.
Design
Q methodology was used to explore student perceptions of TIC.
Setting
A virtual advanced health assessment course at a large, midwestern university in the United States.
Participants
Ninety-five APRN students from six specialty APRN programs.
Methods
Students completed an online Q-sort activity by ranking 32 TIC statements according to how well the statements aligned with their own perspectives. Q-sorts were analyzed using factor analysis and narrative responses to open-ended questions.
Results
Four factors were extracted that revealed different student viewpoints on TIC and their learning experiences: Comfortable/Confident Learners, Uncomfortable/Apprehensive Learners, Empathetic/Hesitant Learners, and Inexperienced/Uncertain Learners.
Conclusions
All students acknowledged the need to learn about TIC to implement it effectively in practice. It is important for faculty to understand the potential range of divergent student viewpoints about TIC and acknowledge, accept, and support students who have anxiety related to learning about TIC.
