Trauma can have quite an affect on a patient and the help they will try to seek or not seek at all. If a patient has experienced trauma in their life, it can leave a lasting psychological effect on them. The patient could develop PTSD from the trauma, which could lead to violent outbursts, insomnia, or substance abuse. A patient may also develop depression and anxiety from past or current trauma. A patient may not even know or want to talk about the psychological affects that the trauma has had on them, so it’s important for the nurse or provider to try and investigate but not probe the patient for answers. Trauma can affect the physical aspect because a patient may harm themselves because of what has happened to them, or the patient may be being physically abused. During the physical assessment it is important to note if the patient has any bruising, lacerations, or wounds that seem abnormal.  From a spiritual aspect a patient may find it comforting to turn a higher power to seek guidance and that is the patient’s choice. However, the patient may blame the higher power and ask why this is happening to them. If a patient comes and discloses that they have had a traumatic experience, I think the first thing to do is ask the patient how they are doing because it took a lot of courage for them even to mention it. The nurse should evaluate where the patient is at and if they want to answer the questions that a nurse will ask them. The patient may be more reserved after the experience and more closed off, so being understanding and acknowledging the patient’s feelings may help them to feel safer.

Children who experience adverse childhood experiences will hold onto that trauma for the rest of their life. These children may learn how to cope with it, or they may never learn how to cope. A child may be impacted by this trauma, and it will stay with them and have long term effects. Some long-term impacts of ACES are obesity, heart disease, depression, anxiety, substance abuse and diabetes. A child may also experience some neurological effects such as aggression, nightmares, and difficulty controlling emotions. The nurse should assess a child for any of these impacts and try to provide comforting interventions to help the child cope. If a child or an adult comes in after having a traumatic experience, there are some key principles that are important for the nurse to use in the care plan.

 The first principle of the six TIC principles is safety. I think that this principle is the most important because it should be a priority to keep your patient safety. This could mean keeping the patient physically safe or it could mean keeping them emotionally safe. If a patient is willing to open up about their trauma, then they need to feel that they are in a safe environment and that they are being heard. I would tell my patient that they can share as much or as little with me as possible, so that way they don’t feel pressured to have to tell me everything. The next one that I would prioritize in my practice is trustworthiness and transparency. I feel that as a nurse I should be open and honest about my intentions on how on want to provide care to this patient and hopefully the patient will speak on how much help they want. I think it would also be important to make sure that they patient consistently meets with the nurse to get help and establish a good relationship, so this way the patient feels comfortable about seeking help. The third principle I would prioritize would be the empowerment voice and choice. The nurse and providers should not be making the final decision on what the patient should do regarding their care unless it is a really bad situation. The patient should be able to speak up about the care that they want and how they want to go about it. I think in the patient is able to voice their opinion then they may get their confidence back and that is a positive outcome.