Other Titles
Nurse Educators' Perceptions of Trauma-Informed Care in Undergraduate Nursing Education [Title Slide]
Abstract
Background: Trauma is ubiquitous within society; it is experienced by people who access healthcare, and their care providers, including nursing students who experience high rates of adverse childhood experiences (Gilroy et al., 2024). Although trauma-informed care (TIC) is an established approach that addresses the widespread health effects of trauma (Wathen et al., 2021), its systematic integration in nursing education curricula is lacking (Pfeiffer & Grabbe, 2022). This leaves new graduate nurses ill-equipped to competently support clients and families who have experienced trauma, compromising a safe culture of care (Ross et al., 2025).
Purpose: To explore individual, relational, structural, and organizational factors influencing nurse educators’ understanding of TIC and their perceived ability, barriers, and facilitators to integrating it into undergraduate curricula.
Methods: An interpretive descriptive study, informed by transformational learning theory (Mezirow, 1978, 1991), recruited Ontario nurse educators with ≥2 years of undergraduate teaching. From an initial survey (n = 145), a purposive sample (n = 28) completed qualitative interviews. Braun and Clarke’s (2022) reflexive thematic analysis guided interpretation.
Results: Participants expressed a need to move beyond siloed integration toward interprofessional collaboration and capacity building to improve organizational culture and prepare students for trauma-informed practice. Facilitators included committed educators, innovative teaching strategies, supportive leadership, and collaborative curriculum design. Barriers included invisibility of TIC content, lack of faculty preparation, overloaded programs, limited assessment strategies, and inconsistent clinical role modelling. The absence of a universal definition of TIC contributes to curricular invisibility.
Conclusions: Nurse educators must recognize how trauma influences nursing students' academic success and practice competency (Elliott et al., 2024). While intentional curricular mapping, institutional support, faculty development, and alignment with interprofessional stakeholders facilitate its integration in nursing curricula, systematic barriers persist. Standardizing TIC education in nursing is a potentially transformative strategy for improving the workforce readiness of new graduates, promoting nurses’ professional well-being, and contributing to healthier work environments.
Notes
Presenter notes available in attached slide deck.
References:
Ashworth, H., Lewis-O’Connor, A., Grossman, S., Brown, T., Elisseou, S., & Stoklosa, H. (2023). Trauma-informed care (TIC) best practices for improving patient care in the emergency department. International Journal of Emergency Medicine, 16(38). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12245-023-00509-w
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2022). Thematic analysis: A practical guide. Sage.
Elliott, R., Giannotti, N., Pfaff, K., & Cruz, E. (2024). Trauma-informed care in undergraduate nursing education: An integrative review. Journal of Nursing Education, 63(11), 737–745. 10.3928/01484834-20240617-04
Gilroy, H., Anderson, K., Berry, D. M., Hirsch, S., Johnson Makiya, D., & Ratcliff, C. (2024). Stress and Trauma Among Nurses in Development (STAND): A Descriptive Study. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 45(8), 840–849. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840.2024.2352588
Mezirow, J. (1978). Perspective transformation. Adult Education Quarterly, 28(2), 100–110.
Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. Jossey-Bass.
Pfeiffer, K. M., & Grabbe, L. (2022). An approach to trauma-informed education in prelicensure nursing curricula. Nursing Forum, 57(4), 658–664. https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12726.
Ross, D. C., Farhat, K. F., Sayrafizadeh, N., Truuvert, A. K., Waliji, L. A., Musheer, M., Blair, J., Hughes, L., MacRae, S., Vigod, S. N., Soklaridis, S., & McCallum, N. (2025). A cross-sectional needs assessment for a trauma-informed care curriculum for multidisciplinary healthcare providers. BMC Health Services Research, 25(1), 426. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-025-12568-1
Varcoe, C., Ford-Gilboe, M., Browne, A. J., Perrin, N., Bungay, V., McKenzie, H., Smye, V., Price Elder, R., Inyallie, J., Khan, K., & Dion Stout, M. (2021). The efficacy of a health promotion intervention for Indigenous women: Reclaiming our spirits. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(13-14), NP7086–NP7116. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518820818
Wathen, C.N., MacGregor, J.C.D., & Beyrem, S. (2021). Impacts of trauma- and violence-informed care education: A mixed method follow-up evaluation with health & social service professionals. Public Health Nursing, 38, 645–654. https://doi.org/10.1111/phn.12883
Sigma Membership
Tau Upsilon
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Descriptive/Correlational
Research Approach
Qualitative Research
Keywords:
Curriculum Development, Stress/Coping, Teaching/Learning Strategies, Psychological Stress, Coping, Teaching, Learning Methods, Nursing Education, Baccalaureate Nursing Education, Trauma, Patient Care, Trauma-Informed Care
Recommended Citation
Elliott, Rachel Ann; Pfaff, Kathryn; Cruz, Edward; Morrell, Sherry; and Guta, Adrian, "Embedding Trauma-Informed Care in Nursing Education: Strategies for Healthy Work Environments" (2026). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 55.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2026/presentations_2026/55
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Washington, DC, USA
Conference Year
2026
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
2026-04-29
Embedding Trauma-Informed Care in Nursing Education: Strategies for Healthy Work Environments
Washington, DC, USA
Background: Trauma is ubiquitous within society; it is experienced by people who access healthcare, and their care providers, including nursing students who experience high rates of adverse childhood experiences (Gilroy et al., 2024). Although trauma-informed care (TIC) is an established approach that addresses the widespread health effects of trauma (Wathen et al., 2021), its systematic integration in nursing education curricula is lacking (Pfeiffer & Grabbe, 2022). This leaves new graduate nurses ill-equipped to competently support clients and families who have experienced trauma, compromising a safe culture of care (Ross et al., 2025).
Purpose: To explore individual, relational, structural, and organizational factors influencing nurse educators’ understanding of TIC and their perceived ability, barriers, and facilitators to integrating it into undergraduate curricula.
Methods: An interpretive descriptive study, informed by transformational learning theory (Mezirow, 1978, 1991), recruited Ontario nurse educators with ≥2 years of undergraduate teaching. From an initial survey (n = 145), a purposive sample (n = 28) completed qualitative interviews. Braun and Clarke’s (2022) reflexive thematic analysis guided interpretation.
Results: Participants expressed a need to move beyond siloed integration toward interprofessional collaboration and capacity building to improve organizational culture and prepare students for trauma-informed practice. Facilitators included committed educators, innovative teaching strategies, supportive leadership, and collaborative curriculum design. Barriers included invisibility of TIC content, lack of faculty preparation, overloaded programs, limited assessment strategies, and inconsistent clinical role modelling. The absence of a universal definition of TIC contributes to curricular invisibility.
Conclusions: Nurse educators must recognize how trauma influences nursing students' academic success and practice competency (Elliott et al., 2024). While intentional curricular mapping, institutional support, faculty development, and alignment with interprofessional stakeholders facilitate its integration in nursing curricula, systematic barriers persist. Standardizing TIC education in nursing is a potentially transformative strategy for improving the workforce readiness of new graduates, promoting nurses’ professional well-being, and contributing to healthier work environments.
Description
Trauma-informed care (TIC) is not systematically integrated into nursing education. Without formal preparation, graduates risk being ill-equipped to support patients/colleagues in trauma-impacted healthcare settings. This interpretive descriptive study, guided by transformational learning theory, explored factors shaping educators’ understanding of TIC. Findings suggest curriculum integration is a transformative strategy to strengthen healthy work environments and prepare graduates for practice.