Secondary Traumatic Stress & Emergency Department Registered Nurses in Ontario: A Cross-Sectional Study

This thesis explores the prevalence of secondary traumatic stress (STS) among nurses working in Ontario emergency departments. Nurses can develop STS via exposure to traumatic events, such as death, injury, or critical illness (Badger, 2001). Emergency department (ED) nurses are especially susceptible to STS due to frequent exposure to traumatic events (Ratrout & Hamdan-Mansour, 2017). This study aimed to (a) determine the prevalence of STS amongst registered nurses (RNs) working in Ontario emergency departments; and (b) to determine factors influencing STS development. Results showed 91.6% of ED nurses in this study experienced STS. Resilience and COVID-19 fear were both significantly associated with STS development in simple linear regression, though only resilience was a significant factor in multiple linear regression. This study provides insight regarding the prevalence of STS among Ontario ED nurses, which was previously unknown. Additionally, this study identified resilience as a significant protective factor against STS development.