Professional wellbeing and turnover intention among child therapists: a comparison between therapists trained and untrained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

BACKGROUND: Poor professional wellbeing and job turnover is challenging for child mental health clinics and despite an increasing interest in implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) in mental health services, little is known about if and how using EBPs may influence therapists' professional wellbeing and turnover intention. To investigate this, we compare the average level of compassion satisfaction, burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and turnover intention between therapists trained in an EBP (Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - TF-CBT) and untrained therapists. We also explore the prevalence of and the associations between these personal and organizational outcomes. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, the data is collected from a national sample of 373 therapists 5 years after an implementation program began (i.e., in the sustainment phase). The variables were measured by the Professional Quality of Life and the Turnover Intention Scales. The Evidence-Based Practice Attitude Scale was also used to measure therapists' attitudes toward EBPs. RESULTS: Over 70% of the respondents reported medium to high levels of burnout, secondary traumatic stress symptoms, and compassion satisfaction, whereas one-third of the respondents reported a high level of intention to leave their job in the current or near future. Higher ratings on burnout and secondary traumatic stress were significantly associated with lower compassion satisfaction and higher turnover intention. Finally, we found significantly lower degree of burnout and turnover intention along with higher compassion satisfaction among TF-CBT therapists (n = 96), compared to other therapists who were not trained in TF-CBT (n = 231). These differences could not be explained by between-group differences in age, job tenure, educational background, or therapists' attitudes towards EBPs. However, mean differences in ratings on secondary traumatic stress symptoms were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Although the prevalence findings are in general alarming, the present study provides the first empirical evidence for a potential positive effect of being trained in TF-CBT on therapists' wellbeing and turnover intention. We discuss these findings in the light of self-efficacy theory and the job demands-resources model.

Self-compassion training for certified nurse assistants in nursing homes.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) who work in nursing homes (NHs) face significant work and personal stress. Self-compassion training has been shown to decrease stress postintervention in previous studies among healthcare providers and those in helping professions. This study examines the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes of self-compassion training to address CNA stress and well-being. DESIGN: Pre-post intervention. SETTING: Three mid-size, nonprofit NHs in North Carolina. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty CNAs, with a mean age of 49, 96% of whom were female, and 83% black/African American. INTERVENTION: In one NH, participants received an 8-week, 2.5-h/session (20 h total) group intervention. At the time of recruitment for NHs 2 and 3, a briefer format (6-week, 1-h/session; 6 h total) became available and was preferred by CNAs, thus both NHs 2 and 3 participants received a 6-h group intervention. All interventions occurred in meeting rooms within participating NHs during shift changes. MEASUREMENTS: Intervention attendance, retention, and acceptability; self-compassion, stress, burnout, depression, and attitudes toward residents with dementia, and job satisfaction pre-, post-, 3-month post-, and 6-month postintervention were assessed. RESULTS: Attendance and program satisfaction were high, and attrition was low for both training formats. Self-compassion was significantly improved at all time periods (p < 0.001), and stress and depression improved significantly through 3 months (p < 0.05), but not 6 months. No statistically significant change in job satisfaction was noted. CONCLUSION: Self-compassion interventions are feasible and acceptable for CNAs working in NHs and show promise for managing stress and improving well-being and compassion toward residents. The briefer 6-h format may maximize participation, while still providing benefits.

Second Victim Experience among OBGYN Trainees: What Is Their Desired Form of Support?

OBJECTIVES: Physician trainees in obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN) experience unexpected outcomes similar to those of supervising physicians. A relative lack of experience and perspective may make them more vulnerable to second victim experience (SVE), however. The objectives of our study were to contrast the prevalence of SVE between supervising physicians and trainees and to identify their preferred methods of support. METHODS: In 2019, the Second Victim Experience and Support Tool, a validated survey with supplemental questions, was administered to healthcare workers caring for OBGYN patients at a large academic center in the midwestern United States. RESULTS: The survey was sent to 571 healthcare workers working in OBGYN. A total of 205 healthcare workers completed the survey, including 18 (43.9% of 41) supervising physicians and 12 (48.0% of 25) resident/fellow physicians. The mean scores for the Second Victim Experience and Support Tool dimensions and outcomes were similar between the two groups. Seven (58.3%) trainees reported feeling like a second victim after an adverse patient safety event at some point in their work experience compared with 10 (55.6%) of the supervising physicians. Five (41.7%) trainees identified as a second victim in the previous 12 months compared with 3 (16.7%) supervising physicians (P = 0.21). The most common form of desired support for both groups was conversations with their peers. CONCLUSIONS: Trainees and supervising physicians are both at risk of SVE after an unexpected medical event and prefer conversations with peers as a desired form of support. Because trainees commonly encounter SVEs early in their careers, program directors should consider implementing a program for peer support after an unexpected event.

Brief Workplace Interventions Addressing Burnout, Compassion Fatigue, and Teamwork: A Pilot Study.

Burnout and compassion fatigue are problematic for nurses, patients, and organizations. Identifying brief interventions nurses can engage in while at work to address compassion fatigue, burnout, and teamwork, as burnout and teamwork are inversely related, is important for all stakeholders. This quasi-experimental pilot study sought to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of five-minute interventions on nurses' burnout, compassion fatigue, and perceptions of teamwork. Nurses were randomized into five groups: meditation, journaling, gratitude, outside, and control. Participants engaged in the interventions, the majority of shifts worked, and many expressed a desire to continue after the six-week intervention period. Cohen's d effect sizes were greatest for burnout, range 0.495-0.757, and situation monitoring, range 0.252-1.1. The journaling group had the highest burnout (-11.88%), compassion satisfaction (7.54%), situation monitoring (-21.21%), and communication (-26.47%) Delta scores. Feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of these brief workplace interventions were preliminarily established to inform a larger study.

Addressing mental health in patients and providers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic, and the associated changes to pregnancy and postpartum experiences, can lead to profound psychological reactions including panic, hyperarousal, sleep disturbance, anxiety, depression, and traumatic stress disorders. Providers face compassion fatigue and shared trauma. In this article, we describe the mental health outcomes known to date in regard to the novel coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic for obstetric patients and their providers as well as therapeutic approaches, including our novel embedded mental health service, to address these mental health needs.

Evaluating the "possums" health professional training in parent-infant sleep.

Infant sleep problems are among the most common issues reported by parents in the postnatal period. Yet, infant sleep and infant sleep interventions remain controversial. This study evaluated health professional training in a novel approach to parent-infant sleep: the Possums Sleep Intervention. Health professionals (n = 144) completed a short survey before and after the training, which focused on the sleep component. The Possums Sleep Intervention training included the following topics: sleep science, cued care, sleep hygiene, relaxation for parents and babies, problem solving, and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). Health professionals reported: improvements in knowledge on infant sleep regulation, the mother-infant relationship and ACT; improvements in health professionals' own sleep quality; improvements in psychological flexibility; and a reduction in professional burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Moreover, the health professional training was received positively. Overall, this study is supportive of the Possums Sleep Intervention health professional training.

Los problemas infantiles para dormir están entre los asuntos más comúnmente reportados por los padres en el período postnatal. Aun así, el dormir del infante y las intervenciones en el caso del dormir del infante se mantienen controversiales. Este estudio evaluó el entrenamiento de profesionales de la salud a través de un acercamiento novedoso al dormir de progenitor-infante: la Intervención 'Possums' (Zarigüeyas) del Dormir. Los profesionales de la salud (n = 144) completaron una encuesta corta antes y después del entrenamiento, el cual se enfocó en el componente de dormir. El entrenamiento de la Intervención 'Possums' del Dormir incluyó los siguientes temas: la ciencia del dormir; el cuidado señalado; la higiene de dormir; la relajación para padres y bebés; el resolver problemas; y la terapia de aceptación y compromiso (ACT). Los profesionales de la salud reportaron: mejoras en el conocimiento acerca de la regulación del dormir del infante, la relación madre-infante y ACT; mejoras en la calidad del propio dormir de los profesionales de la salud; mejoras en la flexibilidad sicológica; y una reducción en el agotamiento profesional y el estrés traumático secundario (STS). Es más, se recibió positivamente el entrenamiento a los profesionales de la salud. En general, este estudio apoya el entrenamiento de profesionales de la salud en la Intervención 'Possums' del Dormir. Palabras claves: dormir, infancia, postnatal, terapia de aceptación y compromiso, profesionales de la salud.

Les problèmes de sommeil du nourrisson se trouvent parmi les problèmes les plus fréquents dont font état les parents durant la période postnatale. Cependant le sommeil du nourrisson et les interventions en sommeil du nourrisson demeurent à controverse. Cette étude a évalué la formation de professionnels de la santé dans une nouvelle approche du sommeil parent-nourrisson: l'Intervention Sommeil Possums. Des professionnels de la santé (n = 144) ont rempli un questionnaire court avant et après la formation, portant sur l'aspect du sommeil. La formation de l'Intervention Sommeil Possums a inclus les sujets suivants: science du sommeil; soin déclenché; hygiène du sommeil; relaxation pour les parents et les bébés; résolution de problèmes; et la Thérapie d'Acceptation et d'Engagement (ACT). Les professionnels de la santé ont fait état d'améliorations des connaissances sur la régulation du sommeil du bébé, la relation mère-bébé et l'ACT; améliorations dans leur propre qualité de sommeil; amélioration dans la flexibilité psychologique; et une réduction du burnout professionnel et du stress traumatique secondaire (STS). De plus la formation des professionnels de la santé a été reçu de manière positive. Dans l'ensemble cette étude soutient la formation des professionnels de la santé de l'Intervention Sommeil Possums. Mots clés: sommeil, nourrisson, postnatal, thérapie d'acceptation et d'engagement, professionnels de la santé.

Moving from practice to praxis: A qualitative descriptive study revealing the value of Project7 Mindfulness Pledge©.

AIM: To examine the experiences of nurses and nursing assistants who participated in a mindfulness project. BACKGROUND: Increased demands and fewer resources have become the norm in most health care settings. As a result, health care professionals face exceptional stress in their work environments and are vulnerable to burnout and compassion fatigue. Even more distressing, many new nurses are leaving their jobs within the first two years. METHODS: Qualitative interviews were conducted with nine participants to discover their experience with the project. RESULTS: The major theme, a process of moving from practice to praxis, is brought forth through in-depth descriptive analysis of nine individual interviews. The process occurred through three themes: fostering self-awareness and compassion; fostering other-awareness and compassion; and compelling transformation in the unit culture. CONCLUSIONS: This study develops an evidence base for incorporating and building mindfulness into health care environments at a time when there is a tremendous need for highly functioning practitioners. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nurse leaders are encouraged to examine how they can support their staff in moving from practice to praxis as a part of improving professional well-being, retention, quality and safety in health care.

An Exploratory Study of a 3-Minute Mindfulness Intervention on Compassion Fatigue in Nurses.

This study shows that breathing mindfully for 3 minutes over a period of 4 weeks, positively affects compassion fatigue in nurses. A nonrandomized, pre/postintervention study was conducted using a 3-minute attentional breathing intervention. Thirty-two nurses participated over 4 weeks. The intervention demonstrated statistically significant reductions in compassion fatigue measures.

Mindfulness therapies on health professionals.

Health professionals are exposed to situations of emotional vulnerability by being in continuous contact with patients and their suffering, which can cause conditions such as compassion fatigue. To address this issue, therapies such as mindfulness are being used to reduce stress and promote self-compassion. The objective of this research was to carry out a systematic review and meta-analysis to analyse the types of mindfulness interventions that are being used for healthcare professionals and their effectiveness in reducing stress and improving self-compassion and mindfulness. Following the PRISMA guideline, a systematic review of original studies was carried out in the following databases: Medline, Scopus, Cinhal, PsycINFO, Lilacs, and Science Direct, without a limited time frame. Controlled experimental mindfulness interventions on health professionals were selected, in which the following outcome variables were measured: stress, self-compassion, and mindfulness. A meta-analysis was performed with a random effects model. In cases of very high heterogeneity, the data were analysed by subgroup. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Therapy (MBSR) was the most often used in the studies. There is diversity in the implementation of MBSR, and a common finding is a reduction of stress and increased mindfulness in health professionals. However, studies that analyse self-compassion are scarce. The effect of these therapies varies depending on how long the individual has been practising meditation. In conclusion, more studies are needed to describe the clinical usefulness of these programmes, to jointly analyse these three variables (stress, self-compassion, and mindfulness), and to measure compassion fatigue as an outcome variable.

[Long-term effects of a mindfulness and self-compassion program with Primary Healthcare professionals]. / Persistencia a largo plazo de los efectos de un programa de mindfulness y autocompasión en profesionales sanitarios de Atención Primaria.

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of mindfulness and self-compassion-based interventions (MSCI) on emotional fatigue and stress in Primary Healthcare (PHC) professionals has been demonstrated in the short term. The aims of this work were to assess whether these effects persist after two years, and if the observed results differ between those who practiced mindfulness regularly during the follow-up (meditators) and those who did not. METHODS: Prospective study - pre-post and two years after performing an MSCI that was offered to all PHC professionals in Navarra, with group sessions of 2.5 hours / week for 8 weeks. Attending at least 75% of the sessions and practicing at home for 45 minutes a day were mandatory. At the three moments of the study, questionnaires were distributed to measure levels of mindfulness (FFMQ), self-compassion (SCS), perceived stress (PSQ) and burnout (MBI). At the end of the follow-up period, participants were asked if they were meditators and the time they dedicated to this weekly. RESULTS: Forty-eight professionals were enrolled and 41 (83% women) met the inclusion criteria, without loss to follow-up. Mean scores in mindfulness, self-compassion and perceived stress significantly improved after the intervention and in the long term (p <0.001), without observing differences in the level of burnout. The group of meditators achieved a greater long-term improvement in self-compassion (3.6 points vs. 1.6). CONCLUSIONS: The effectiveness of an MSCI persists two years later regardless of meditator status, although there is a significant improvement in self-compassion in the meditators.

The emotional and psychological burden of the "burnout" in families of psychiatric patients.

People, who assist patients with chronic health problems for work, voluntary or for family reasons, may be affected by burnout. This is defined as an excessive reaction to stress caused by one's environment that may be characterized by feelings of emotional and physical exhaustion, coupled with a sense of frustration and failure. A person who assists a suffering person, beyond the professional role, is indicated generally by the term "caregiver". The definition of Burnout in families is fairly recent, because the psychology of trauma has ignored a large segment of traumatized and disabled subjects (family and other assistants of "suffering people") unwittingly, for a long time. The burnout of secondary stress is due to one's empathic ability, actions trough disengagement, and a sense of satisfaction from helping to relieve suffering. Figley (1995) claims that being a member of a family or other type of intimate or bonded interpersonal relationship, one feels the others' pain. Closely associated with the suffering of the family caregiver is the concept of compassion fatigue, defined as a state of exhaustion and disfunction-biologically, psychologically, and socially - as a result of prolonged exposure to compassion stress and all that it evokes. In families, this can be the cause of serious conflicts and problems, quarrels, verbal and physical aggression, and broken relationships. The intervention on families requires practice and effectiveness approaches performed by experienced professionals. Some approaches focus more specifically, such as those that adopt a cognitive/behavioural technique with direct exposure, implosion methods, various drug treatments and family group psychotherapy. One of the most common models of intervention is based on the principle that the observation unit for the understanding of the disorder is not the single individual but the relationship between individuals.

Improving Retention Among Certified Nursing Assistants Through Compassion Fatigue Awareness and Self-Care Skills Education.

Background: Retention of certified nursing assistants (CNAs) is an ongoing challenge for nursing homes. Purpose: To combat the effects of providing complex care needs to residents, this quality improvement project explored a 90-minute evidence-based education program on compassion fatigue awareness and multiple self-care skill strategies for CNA retention. Design: A single-group pre- and posttest design, mixed-methods approach. Method: A preintervention demographic survey, a postexperience survey, and the ProQOL (Professional Quality of Life; Version 5) tool measured the CNAs' level of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress at three time points: preintervention, 1 month postintervention, and 3 months postintervention. Results: Forty-five CNAs participated. After 1 month, CNA retention increased by 43%, and at the end of the fourth month, the facility's retention rate was 100%. Forty-four percent of the full-time supplemental agency CNAs became full-time facility employees. The use of supplemental agency staff decreased to less than 5% of the total CNA hours worked. CNAs improved their compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress scores. Conclusion: This education program proved to be an effective, low-cost intervention. The quality improvement project highlighted the need for additional study on holistic interventions such as workplace education programs addressing compassion fatigue awareness and self-care skill strategies in this understudied group of formal caregivers.

Compassion Fatigue and Burnout, One Institution's Interventions.

Compassion is a complex abstract concept and is generally perceived as an emotional reaction to another person's vulnerability and suffering that motivates an individual wanting the best for the one who is suffering. It is seen as a virtuous and an inherent quality of nursing care. Nurses are exposed to various work stressors caused by myriads of complex professional and organizational challenges. In response, some nurses have developed coping mechanisms exemplified by detachment and distance in the caring relationship, whereas others have fallen victim to compassion fatigue or burnout, stressors that may increase the risk for suicide. There is a direct cost to health care organizations when the staff begin to show signs of burnout and fatigue. It is incumbent on health care leaders to establish assistance programs to improve the quality of work life of caregivers, prevent and remove work stressors to reduce turnover, and retain talent.

Programas basados en mindfulness para el tratamiento de la fatiga por compasión en personal sanitario: una revisión / Programs based on mindfulness for the treatment of compassion fatigue in health professionals: a review

Resumen La fatiga por compasión puede afectar el ámbito social, laboral, emocional, psicológico y físico de los profesionales sanitarios, así como derivar en una baja calidad en la relación con el paciente. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar los programas de intervención basados en mindfulness para la reducción de la fatiga por compasión en personal sanitario mediante una revisión de la literatura de las bases EbscoHost, Web Of Science y Scopus, entre 2010 y 2017. Los datos obtenidos muestran que las intervenciones basadas en mindfulness son eficaces para la reducción de síntomas de fatiga por compasión, burnout y malestar emocional, así como para la mejoría de la calidad de vida y el afecto positivo. En este sentido, las intervenciones basadas en mindfulness proporcionan estrategias para el auto-cuidado y la auto-conciencia, reduciendo la fatiga por compasión y aumentando la calidad de vida y el bienestar emocional del personal sanitario.

Abstract Compassion fatigue can affect the areas: social, occupational, emotional, psychological and physical of health professionals. Moreover, it can affect the quality of the relationship with patient. The objective of this study is to analyze the intervention programs based on mindfulness to reduce the fatigue compassion's symptoms in health professionals through a review of the literature by EbscoHost, Web Of Science and Scopus databases between 2010 and 2017. Data obtained show that programs based on mindfulness are effective to reduce the symptoms of compassion fatigue, burnout and distress. In addition, to increase the quality of life and positive affect. In this sense, interventions based on mindfulness promote strategies to self-care and self-awareness, reducing compassion fatigue symptomatology and increasing quality of life and emotional well-being.

Quality of Life and Compassion Satisfaction in Clinicians: A Pilot Intervention Study for Reducing Compassion Fatigue.

BACKGROUND: Compassion fatigue (CF) is prevalent in healthcare professionals, particularly in those caring for chronic, acutely ill, and/or those patients who might be moving toward comfort care. Over time, CF can lead to burnout (BO) and secondary traumatic stress and an overall decrease in professional quality of life. In this pilot study, participants completed a resiliency program focused on education about CF and self-awareness of its individualized impact and were expected to develop ongoing self-care practices to prevent/address the untoward effects. METHODS: Healthcare professionals ( N = 15) participated in a formalized educational program consisting of three 90-minute educational sessions held 2 weeks apart. Preassessment and postintervention data were collected electronically in survey format. A postprogram evaluation was also offered. RESULTS: Upon completion of the program, participants noted an increase in compassion satisfaction (CS) and a small reduction in BO. Secondary traumatic stress remained unchanged. Feedback about the program was positive, and participants reported the impact on their clinical practice and life to be moderately high. At 6 months, over half of the participants continued to report positive impact on their personal/professional lives. CONCLUSION: While the small sample size of this pilot study limits the generalizability of the findings, there were positive effects for CS and BO in participants over time, indicating possible benefits of providing self-care education to healthcare providers. Additional research with a larger sample size is needed to address how healthcare providers might further benefit from resiliency education and interventions to improve professional quality of life.

Integrative Review of Facility Interventions to Manage Compassion Fatigue in Oncology Nurses.

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION: Oncology nurses are regularly exposed to high-stress situations that may lead to compassion fatigue, and many institutions have implemented interventions to reduce burnout in nurses, but knowledge on the feasiblity, effectiveness, and nurses' experience of interventions is lacking.
. LITERATURE SEARCH: Electronic search of literature published from 1992-2015 was performed to evaluate in-facility interventions to manage compassion fatigue in oncology nurses. Databases used included CINAHL®, PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and PsycINFO®. 
. DATA EVALUATION: The goal was to evaluate the effectiveness, feasibility, and nurses' experience of interventions to manage compassion fatigue. The study designs, methods, and limitations were independently screened by the authors. 
. SYNTHESIS: Of 164 studies, 31 met eligibility criteria. 
. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of the studies were conducted in Western countries, which suggests the need for additional research in other settings to determine effective interventions that address compassion fatigue and stress cross-culturally. Quantitative and qualitative studies failed to gain high scores in terms of quality. Limited conclusions can be drawn from small studies that report on outcomes with many confounding variables, such as turnover rate or general health of nurses, from a single institution. 
. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Lack of empirical precision in evaluating the effectiveness, feasibility, and nurses' experiences of interventions indicates a need for future, more rigorously designed experimental studies. Because of the global increase in the number of patients being diagnosed and living with cancer, oncology nurses should be able to recognize and manage compassion fatigue.

Songs for the Soul: A Program to Address a Nurse's Grief
.

When caring for patients with cancer, a number of situations arise that cause nurses to grieve. Nurses need time and space to grieve to prevent the untoward effects of cumulative grief. While providing a safe space for nurses to be vulnerable in grief, Songs for the Soul combines the healing effects of expressive writing, storytelling, and music to help nurses address the grief and suffering they experience in their work. The use of storytelling through music portrays an expression of their grief that matches the intensity of their caregiving experience.

Effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention on oncology nurses' burnout and compassion fatigue symptoms: A non-randomized study.

BACKGROUND: Job stress and burnout are highly frequent in healthcare professionals, and prevalence in nurses can be as high as 40%. Mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to be effective in reducing stress and increasing well-being in a wide range of populations and contexts. However, controlled studies with healthcare professionals, and especially nurses, are scarce. OBJECTIVES, DESIGN AND SETTING: The aim of this study was to explore the effectiveness of an on-site, abbreviated mindfulness-based intervention for nurses, using a nonrandomized, wait-list comparison design. The effectiveness of the intervention was measured through several validated self-report measures that participants completed before and after the intervention, assessing burnout, compassion fatigue, psychological symptoms, mindfulness, self-compassion, experiential avoidances, rumination, and satisfaction with life. PARTICIPANTS: A sample of 94 oncology nurses agreed to participate in the study and self-selected into an experimental (n=45) and comparison condition (n=48). Complete data was obtained for 48 of the initial 94 participants, mainly due to poor follow-up data rather than high drop-out rate. RESULTS: Statistical analyses included a series of 2×2 ANOVAs and ANCOVAs. Results indicated that nurses in the intervention reported significant decreases in compassion fatigue, burnout, stress, experiential avoidance, and increases in satisfaction with life, mindfulness and self-compassion, with medium to large effect sizes. Nurses in the comparison group didn't present significant changes in these variables. Results also pointed to a high degree of acceptability of the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides preliminary evidence that mindfulness-based interventions may be efficacious in reducing oncology nurses' psychological symptoms and improving their overall well-being, and thus may be worthy of further study in this population.

Reducing primary and secondary traumatic stress symptoms among educators by training them to deliver a resiliency program (ERASE-Stress) following the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand.

The current investigation evaluated the impact of a universal school-based resiliency intervention (ERASE-Stress) on educators who were working with elementary schoolchildren exposed to the Canterbury earthquake in New Zealand. In the context of major disasters, educators may suffer from "dual trauma"; they can experience symptoms of both primary trauma (as a result of the disaster itself) and secondary trauma (as a result of working with traumatized students). Sixty-three educators were randomly assigned to either the ERASE-Stress intervention or an alternative Managing Emergencies and Traumatic Incidents (METI) program which served as a control group. Efficacy of the program was evaluated at the end of the training as well as at 8 months follow-up. Compared with educators in the control group, those in the ERASE-Stress intervention significantly reduced their posttraumatic distress and secondary traumatization symptoms, improved their perceived level of professional self-efficacy as a helper of earthquake survivors, developed an optimistic outlook regarding their personal future and enhanced their sense of hope, and honed some of their positive coping strategies and reduced the utilization of some maladaptive coping methods. These beneficial consequences of the ERASE-Stress training make it a potentially useful tool for educators working with traumatized students in the context of major disasters. (PsycINFO Database Record