• J Pain Symptom Manage · Aug 2018

    Secondary Traumatization and Proneness to Dissociation Among Palliative Care Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study.

    • Tali Samson and Pesach Shvartzman.
    • Department of Family Medicine, Pain and Palliative Care Unit, Siaal Research Center for Family Medicine and Primary Care, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel; Clalit Health Services - Southern District, Beer-Sheva, Israel. Electronic address: samsont@bgu.ac.il.
    • J Pain Symptom Manage. 2018 Aug 1; 56 (2): 245-251.

    ContextExposure to dying patients can contribute to secondary traumatic stress (STS) among palliative care workers. Peritraumatic dissociation (PETD), an individual's personal proneness to dissociation during exposure to a stressful event, is the strongest predictor of post-traumatic stress, but existing research on its relationship to STS is limited.ObjectiveTo compare the level of STS among palliative workers with clinical levels of PETD compared with those without clinical levels of PETD.MethodsA cross-sectional self-report survey.Setting/ParticipantsThese include about 420 physicians and nurses working in hospital-based and/or home-based palliative care units.Inclusion Criteriatwo years' experience with at least 10 hours/week of direct care for terminally ill patients.ResultsAbout 144 participants returned completed questionnaires (response rate 35%). Sixty percent reported a nonclinical level of dissociation. Workers with a clinical level of dissociation had significantly higher levels of STS compared with workers who did not. Awareness of an interaction effect between PETD and fear of dying progression can advance our understanding of how the development of PETD during exposure to dying can have an impact that is beyond the main effect on STS.ConclusionsThe clinical level of PETD correlates significantly with STS. Further research is needed to understand whether STS is related to the individual's own vulnerability, as reflected by their personal proneness to dissociation, during exposure to death and dying.Copyright © 2018 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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