Vicarious traumatisation in healthcare staff v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Work-related trauma exposure and vicarious traumatisation in clinical and non-clinical health care staff: prevalence and associated factors
IRAS ID
326419
Contact name
Cerith Waters
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 31 days
Research summary
Healthcare professionals can be exposed to traumatic material within the workplace. This includes both clinical healthcare professionals such as nurses, doctors, psychologists, and non-clinical healthcare profes-sionals, such as administration staff, receptionists, and secretaries. From exposure to traumatic material, healthcare professionals can experience an adverse impact on their own wellbeing including traumatic stress.
This study is interested in exploring 'vicarious traumatisation,' which is when people are traumatised not from directly experiencing the traumatic event themselves, but from either hearing about this from stories or from others. The impact of exposure to traumatic material within clinical staff is well documented. However, there is currently far less research on the impact of exposure to traumatic material on non-clinical staff, especially in relation to vicarious traumatisation. For example, for administrative staff through listening to people's trauma as they type, taking minutes in a team meeting, and writing client reports.
More research is needed to explore the extent to which non-clinical healthcare professionals are exposed to traumatic material and the impact this has on these individuals.
Healthcare staff will be asked to complete a 20–30-minute online survey considering information about themselves, their job, and exposure to traumatic material within their workplace. All participants will be given a Participant Information Sheet about the study and a consent form to sign if they are happy to take part. All participants can opt in to enter a prize draw (8x £25 vouchers).
It is hoped that the results of this study will increase the pool of an under-represented staff population within healthcare settings and explore both individual and organisational factors that may be associated with increasing or reducing the impact of exposure to traumatic material. Such research may help to consider the, at times, forgotten needs of this staff group and help develop more tailored support.
REC name
N/A
REC reference
N/A