Trauma-Informed Care

Trauma hurts.

Trauma hurts many more people than are able or willing to admit it... and it hurts for long after the initial injury occurs.

As nurses, we will come across people with all experiences of trauma and in all stages of healing. Remember not only that there is hope for healing (https://hopefulpanda.com/effects-of-child-abuse/) but also that it is a long, hard process that some people may not be ready to undertake.

It's also important to realize that trauma may not be visible. Often the invisible traumas are much deeper, harder to overcome, and harder to recognize because one learns to function with pieces missing. The younger someone is when experiencing trauma, the harder to identify, process, and heal from.

How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetimeChildhood trauma isn’t something you just get over as you grow up. Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris explains that the repeated stress of abuse, neglect and parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues has real, tangible effects on the development of the brain. This unfolds across a lifetime, to the point where those who’ve experienced high levels of trauma are at triple the risk for heart disease and lung cancer. An impassioned plea for pediatric medicine to confront the prevention and treatment of trauma, head-on.

What can you do about trauma?

It starts with acknowledging ther pervasive quality of trauma. Then understanding the effects trauma has on a person - physical, emotional, and psychological. https://www.texomacc.org/trauma-informed-care/

What to do with someone else who has experienced trauma? I found this website helpful.

Listen. Openly listen to what they have to say. Talking helps.

Learn their triggers. Everyone has them, but they may not even know what they are.

Don't judge.

Don't take over.

Respect privacy and confidence.

Help them find support.

Take care of yourself!
Secondary trauma is real. You need your own support system.