Barriers to emergency department clinicians' confidence in providing paediatric trauma‐informed care

Afzal, Nimrah; Lyttle, Mark D.; Alisic, Eva; Trickey, David; Hiller, Rachel M.; Halligan, Sarah L.

Abstract

Background: It has been estimated that around 31% of children will experience a traumatic event during childhood, most commonly serious accidents that lead to hospitalisation. Around 15% of children who experience such events go onto develop post‐traumatic stress disorder. Emergency department (ED) clinicians have a unique opportunity to intervene during the early peri‐trauma period, which can involve incorporating a trauma‐informed approach within their care. The available evidence indicates that clinicians internationally need further education and training to enhance their knowledge and confidence in providing trauma‐informed psychosocial care. However, UK/Ireland specific knowledge is limited. Methods: The current study analysed the UK and Irish subset of data (N = 434) that was collected as part of an international survey of ED clinicians. Questionnaires indexed clinician confidence in providing psychosocial care, and a range of potential barriers to providing that care. Hierarchical linear regression was used to identify predictors of clinician confidence. Results: Clinicians reported moderate levels of confidence in providing psychosocial care to injured children and families (M = 3.19, SD = 0.46). Regression analyses identified negative predictors of clinical confidence, including a lack of training, worrying about further upsetting children and parents, and low levels of perceived departmental performance in providing psychosocial care (R2 = 0.389). Conclusions: The findings highlight the need for further training in psychosocial care for ED clinicians. Future research must identify nationally relevant pathways to implement training programmes for clinicians, in order to improve their skills in relation to paediatric traumatic stress and to reduce the perception of barriers identified in the present study.

Citation

Afzal, N., Lyttle, M. D., Alisic, E., Trickey, D., Hiller, R. M., & Halligan, S. L. (2022). Barriers to emergency department clinicians' confidence in providing paediatric trauma‐informed care. JCPP Advances, 2(3), Article e12091. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.12091

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 22, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Jul 21, 2022
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2022
• Deposit Date: Aug 2, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 2, 2022
• Journal: JCPP Advances
• Print ISSN: 2692-9384
• Electronic ISSN: 2692-9384
• Publisher: Wiley Open Access
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2
• Issue: 3
• Article Number: e12091
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.12091
• Keywords: emergency department, paediatric injury, PTSD, trauma, traumatic stress
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9722847
• Publisher URL: https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcv2.12091