Publication Date
2006
Recommended Citation
Galgano, Ann, "Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: Healing the Body and Mind" (2006). Senior Honors Theses. 164.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/honors/164
Abstract
Each day hospitals strive to provide optimal care for physically traumatized patients. While the word "trauma" is often associated with the physical injuries of patients in an emergency room or an intensive care unit, the meaning may be significantly different to the one who has been traumatized. At a glance, a patient who enters the hospital as a victim of sexual assault or a motor vehicle accident (MV A) may appear to have sustained only a severe physically traumatic event. If one looks closer and uses other senses such as hearing, touch, and personal, intimate eye-to-eye communication, then one would discover that the injuries penetrate much deeper. Nurses play an essential role in healing not only bodily trauma, but also emotional and cognitive trauma. This research seeks to convey the emotional and mental state of traumatized patients and to discover what the nurse can do to help heal the whole person, not just the physical wounds of their patients.
