Nurses need to heal from COVID-19 pandemic, too, says Purdue nursing trauma expert

Karen Foli, an associate professor of nursing in Purdue University’s School of Nursing. (Purdue University photo)

WHAT:  Health care workers across the U.S. are feeling overwhelmed by recent surges of COVID-19 patients in health care facilities, causing stress on local health care systems and communities. Karen Foli, associate professor of nursing in Purdue University’s College of Health and Human Sciences, says the nurses who are doing extraordinary work in caring for patients are experiencing psychological trauma.

EXPERT:  Foli is leading Purdue researchers in identifying at-risk nurses and finding ways for healing and recovery through the concept of insufficient resource trauma and the middle range theory of nurses’ psychological trauma. She is the co-author of “The Influence of Psychological Trauma in Nursing.” Foli is currently reviewing data with Yu-Chin Chiu in Purdue’s Department of Psychological Sciences, and Lingsong Zhang in the  Department of Statistics and the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering. The review includes narratives gathered from a survey of critical care registered nurses, which was sent out in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nurses are reporting significant mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and symptoms that would indicate posttraumatic stress disorder. Previous ways to cope have been weakened as teams struggle to provide care and grieve incredible patient loss.

QUOTE: “Nurses, more than anything, strive to deliver high-quality care and connect with patients during their most vulnerable times. But often there isn’t the time. The inability to achieve that goal causes stress. Imagine being forced to choose between giving morning meds and sitting down with a patient newly diagnosed with cancer – or spending time with the family of a patient with COVID-19. Choices like that leave nurses focused on tasks and morally injured.”

THE CONVERSATION: Foli wrote an article for The Conversation, “The psychological trauma of nurses started long before coronavirus.” The Conversation publishes news analysis pieces from university experts and makes the articles available to other media outlets. News outlets may republish this article at no charge by following Creative Commons guidelines; details are available on the article webpage.

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Writer, Media contact: Matthew Oates, 765-586-7496 (cell), oatesw@purdue.edu, @mo_oates

Sources: Karen Foli, kfoli@purdue.edu

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