Organizational Support to Prevent Secondary Traumatic Stress

Organizational Support to Prevent Secondary Traumatic Stress

Secondary traumatic stress must be addressed structurally as well as individually.

Because secondary traumatic stress is a hazard for all who work in the healthcare setting, managers, supervisors, and institutions at large must partner with staff to develop ways to regularly combat the potential for secondary traumatic stress, in order to promote staff health and well-being.

Institutional strategies include:

  • work place self-care groups
  • self-report screening for staff
  • measures that promote work life balance such as flexible scheduling

Organizational staff wellness programs and employee assistance programs also have a role in reducing the impact of secondary traumatic stress among staff.

Consider the following:

In your organization / healthcare system:

  • What is your organization doing to address secondary traumatic stress?
  • Are any of these practices in place at your organization?
  • Does the organization recognize that all staff may be impacted by this work?
  • Does your organization explicitly value and support work-life balance for staff?

In your team:

  • How do you help to address secondary traumatic stress for those you supervise or mentor?
  • Does your team build in ways to acknowledge the impact of particularly challenging cases and debrief together?
  • Are you a champion for colleagues who may be showing signs of stress?

Tools and resources for organizational support to reduce secondary traumatic stress

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