Other Titles

Rising Star Poster/Presentation - Rapid Presentation Round

Abstract

Problem Statement: Critical incidents (CIs) occur, and healthcare provider (HCP) support is often insufficient. Upstream impact of this problem includes unease of identifying incidents as CI, lack of operational knowledge of illustrating and identifying second victim phenomenon, limited recommendations for support of second victimsand inadequately trained certified critical incident stress management (CISM) leaders. Critical incident stress debrief (CISD) practice to enhance certified CISM leaders’ skills has been identified as a gap.

Purpose: The impact of CIs are devasting to HCPs in addition to patients and families of patients. A CI is when harm reaches a recipient of healthcare or when a catastrophic event occurs outside one’s locus of control, such as the unexpected death of a coworker, workplace violence acts, or a natural disaster. A critical incident is not limited to but does include adverse events, unexpected deaths, or risk management situations (Mitchell, 2016).The purpose of this project is to develop a situational simulation training to support certified CISM leaders to lead debriefs and subsequently increase the number of CISD for the organization.

Clinical Question: Among certified CISM leaders, does the addition of education sessions, including situational simulation facilitator training, increase the likelihood of addressing all seven phases of the CISD process and increase the number of CISD provided?

Methods: Situational simulation in-situ training sessions for certified CISM leaders with evaluation of the seven phases of the CISD process will be based upon potential CIs and evaluated with a rubric. The seven phases of CISD are “introduction, fact, thought, reaction, symptom, teaching, and re-entry” (Mitchell, 2016).

Data Analysis: Parametric two sample t-tests will be used to evaluate the difference between simulation A and simulation B evaluation of the seven-phase process of CISD. The second outcome will use Tukey post hoc analysis for comparison of pre-intervention, during intervention, and post-intervention evaluation of number of CISD and number of participants.

Results: Pending.

Nursing Implications: Professional development for CISM leaders who support emotional health post events for nurses and others.

Notes

References:

Mitchell, J. T. (2016). Critical incident stress management (CISM): Group crisis intervention (5th ed.). International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.

Finney, R. E., Czinski, S., Fjerstad, K., Arteaga, G. M., Weaver, A. L., Riggan, K. A., Allyse, M. A., Long, M. E., Torbenson, V. E., & Rivera-Chiauzzi, E. Y. (2021). Evaluation of a second victim peer support program on perceptions of second victim experiences and supportive resources in pediatric clinical specialties using the second victim experience and support tool (SVEST). Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 61, 312–317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2021.08.023

Description

Debrief the debrief; a strategic overview of simulation training for leaders of critical incident stress debriefs. The logistics, how-to, and why of support for those who support others.

Author Details

Jessica A. Borthwick, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BC, CMSRN, CHFN

Sigma Membership

Xi Chi

Type

Presentation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Other

Research Approach

Other

Keywords:

Critical Incident, Second Victim, Stress Debriefing, Situational Simulation

Conference Name

Creating Healthy Work Environments

Conference Host

Sigma Theta Tau International

Conference Location

Washington, DC, USA

Conference Year

2024

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Date of Issue

2026-02-16

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Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Situational Simulation Training to Prepare Debriefing Leaders

Washington, DC, USA

Problem Statement: Critical incidents (CIs) occur, and healthcare provider (HCP) support is often insufficient. Upstream impact of this problem includes unease of identifying incidents as CI, lack of operational knowledge of illustrating and identifying second victim phenomenon, limited recommendations for support of second victimsand inadequately trained certified critical incident stress management (CISM) leaders. Critical incident stress debrief (CISD) practice to enhance certified CISM leaders’ skills has been identified as a gap.

Purpose: The impact of CIs are devasting to HCPs in addition to patients and families of patients. A CI is when harm reaches a recipient of healthcare or when a catastrophic event occurs outside one’s locus of control, such as the unexpected death of a coworker, workplace violence acts, or a natural disaster. A critical incident is not limited to but does include adverse events, unexpected deaths, or risk management situations (Mitchell, 2016).The purpose of this project is to develop a situational simulation training to support certified CISM leaders to lead debriefs and subsequently increase the number of CISD for the organization.

Clinical Question: Among certified CISM leaders, does the addition of education sessions, including situational simulation facilitator training, increase the likelihood of addressing all seven phases of the CISD process and increase the number of CISD provided?

Methods: Situational simulation in-situ training sessions for certified CISM leaders with evaluation of the seven phases of the CISD process will be based upon potential CIs and evaluated with a rubric. The seven phases of CISD are “introduction, fact, thought, reaction, symptom, teaching, and re-entry” (Mitchell, 2016).

Data Analysis: Parametric two sample t-tests will be used to evaluate the difference between simulation A and simulation B evaluation of the seven-phase process of CISD. The second outcome will use Tukey post hoc analysis for comparison of pre-intervention, during intervention, and post-intervention evaluation of number of CISD and number of participants.

Results: Pending.

Nursing Implications: Professional development for CISM leaders who support emotional health post events for nurses and others.