Emergency nurses' views of the role of debriefing sessions in the A&E department

Abstract

Debriefing serves to lessen symptoms associated with emotional suffering and to prevent long-term memory psychopathology. This is achieved through expressing emotions about trauma and discussing one's feelings and reactions with a skilled professional who provides ·support and attempts to normalise the reactions that emerge (McNally, Bryant, & Ehlers, 2003). Emergency nurses witness traumatic events on a daily basis, and are also at risk of being exposed to emotional suffering. According to the literature, debriefing as a mechanism of enabling professionals to cope with this suffering, is used in other countries. This study seeks to explore emergency nurses' views of debriefing in Malta. A self-designed questionnaire was self-administered to all nurses (n=76) working on a permanent basis at the Accident & Emergency (A&E) department in an acute care hospital and a response rate of 34% was achieved. A quantitative approach has been adopted to gain a breadth of ideas regarding emergency nurses' views about the role of debriefing sessions in A&E department. The quantitative data was analysed using simple descriptive statistics, whilst the qualitative data was analysed using content analysis. The findings of this study show that debriefing does not appear to be carried out on a regular basis in Malta. Nurses' past experiences along with their perspectives on the future implementation of debriefing sessions, were obtained.

Only half the respondents who participated in the study had previous experiences of debriefing sessions. This might have serious repercussions on emergency nurses' psychological health, especially being constantly exposed to trauma and suffering through their occupation. However due lo the very poor response rate, the findings must be viewed with caution. The emergency nurses recommend implementing debriefing on a more regular basis, together with more support from the management. It was further recommended that a similar but qualitative study be conducted to A&E administration staff to explore their understanding of debriefing. It was also suggested that staff in A&E department be more knowledgeable about debriefing and its importance to be carried out and ensure that debriefing is carried out regularly.