Date of this Version

12-6-2023

Document Type

DNP Project

Abstract

Abstract

Background: Traumatic events, such as witnessing and/or performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), can lead to mental distress. Debriefing is a procedure used following traumatic events (e.g., cardiac arrests) to facilitate conversation, reflection, and knowledge. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to establish nurses’ confidence in leading debriefing sessions and to evaluate the effectiveness of a debriefing educational program.

Methods: A quasi-experimental design was used to evaluate a newly developed 30-minute video focused on debriefing procedures with intensive care unit (ICU) nurses at a large academic, urban hospital. The educational video included information about hospital debriefing procedures and the Employee Assistance Program. Two sources of information were used to evaluate the educational program: 1. A survey was used to collect participants’ demographic data and assess participant perspectives of the importance of debriefing, nurses’ confidence leading a debriefing session, and nurses’ knowledge of the available hospital mental health resources. 2. Debriefing forms were reviewed 3 months prior to the educational program implementation and 1 month after.

Results: Forty of the eligible 120 ICU nurses participated in this study (a 33% response rate). Fifty-two percent (n = 21) of the participants were women, 50% (n = 20) were aged 25–34, and half (n = 20) had 5 years or less of nursing experience. Following the educational program, 55% (n = 22) of the participants felt confident in leading a debriefing session, and all believed debriefing was important. In the month following the educational program, two debriefing forms were completed for five code events (40% compliance). In the 3-month period before the educational program, 0 debriefing forms were submitted for 26 code events.

Conclusion: The findings were promising and indicated most participants felt confident in leading a debriefing session post training. Continued staff support and reminders to conduct debriefings postcode would be beneficial, and training for all healthcare professionals should also be considered.

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