Exposures to Potentially Psychologically Traumatic Events Among Nurses in Canada.

Background: Nurses are regularly exposed to diverse potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs) as a function of their work. Cumulative exposure to PPTEs can lead to clinically significant symptoms of mental disorders.

Purpose: We designed the current study to investigate the prevalence of different PPTEs among Canadian nurses and estimate the associations between diverse exposures and several mental disorders.

Methods: Canadian nurses (i.e., registered nurses, registered psychiatric nurses, licensed practical nurses, nurse practitioners) completed an online, self-reported survey. In total, 4067 participants (94.8% women) completed all relevant survey measures.

Results: Nurses reported exposures to several PPTE categories including severe human suffering, life threatening illness or injury, and physical assault, often 11 or more times. There were significant (<.05) associations between diverse traumatic events and all mental disorders (i.e., Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder) except Alcohol Use Disorder.

Conclusions: The current findings suggest that Canadian nurses are substantially exposed to traumatic events, which vary by several sociodemographic categories. PPTE exposures were significantly associated with mental disorders; that is, if PPTEs were eliminated among Canadian nurses in the sample, symptoms would be reduced between 42.0% and 58.0%.