Trauma-informed Care in Undergraduate Nursing Education: An Integrative Review
Description
Background: Trauma-informed care (TIC) requires healthcare providers and organizations to provide care in a way that assumes everyone has a trauma history (Hopper et al., 2010). Recent studies indicate that both registered nurses and advanced practice nurses, while open to the concept of being trauma-informed, often lack the knowledge, tools, and confidence to address trauma in patient care effectively (Maybe et al., 2017). Despite awareness of a knowledge and practice gap, nursing has continued to trail other healthcare disciplines in integrating TIC into nursing education (Li et al., 2019). Objective: An integrative review examined current approaches and methods for integrating trauma-informed care (TIC) into undergraduate nursing education. Methods: An integrative review following Whittemore and Knafl (2005) procedures synthesized the literature related to TIC in undergraduate nursing education. The quality of the empirical studies was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT), as outlined by Hong et al. (2018). Results: Data analysis involved a four-step process based on Miles and Huberman’s (1994) data analysis components. Five themes surfaced: (1) Isolated TIC Integration in Undergraduate Courses, (2) TIC for Safe Learning Environments, (3) Inconsistent TIC Definitions in Nursing Education, (4) Prerequisite Nurse Educator Training, and (5) Students Recognizing an Implementation Gap and Seeking Solutions. Conclusion: This review highlights TIC integration challenges in nursing education, emphasizing the need for ongoing research, training, and collaboration. These efforts are vital to equipping future nursing professionals with the skills to provide high-quality, trauma-informed care, benefiting students, patients, and healthcare delivery.
Trauma-informed Care in Undergraduate Nursing Education: An Integrative Review
Background: Trauma-informed care (TIC) requires healthcare providers and organizations to provide care in a way that assumes everyone has a trauma history (Hopper et al., 2010). Recent studies indicate that both registered nurses and advanced practice nurses, while open to the concept of being trauma-informed, often lack the knowledge, tools, and confidence to address trauma in patient care effectively (Maybe et al., 2017). Despite awareness of a knowledge and practice gap, nursing has continued to trail other healthcare disciplines in integrating TIC into nursing education (Li et al., 2019). Objective: An integrative review examined current approaches and methods for integrating trauma-informed care (TIC) into undergraduate nursing education. Methods: An integrative review following Whittemore and Knafl (2005) procedures synthesized the literature related to TIC in undergraduate nursing education. The quality of the empirical studies was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT), as outlined by Hong et al. (2018). Results: Data analysis involved a four-step process based on Miles and Huberman’s (1994) data analysis components. Five themes surfaced: (1) Isolated TIC Integration in Undergraduate Courses, (2) TIC for Safe Learning Environments, (3) Inconsistent TIC Definitions in Nursing Education, (4) Prerequisite Nurse Educator Training, and (5) Students Recognizing an Implementation Gap and Seeking Solutions. Conclusion: This review highlights TIC integration challenges in nursing education, emphasizing the need for ongoing research, training, and collaboration. These efforts are vital to equipping future nursing professionals with the skills to provide high-quality, trauma-informed care, benefiting students, patients, and healthcare delivery.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/we-spark-conference/2025/postersessions/19