Date of Award
Fall 1992
Document Type
Thesis - Restricted
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Nursing
First Advisor
Schank, Mary Jane
Second Advisor
Wallskog, Joyce M.
Third Advisor
Fitzgerald-Miller, Judith
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine whether Critical Incident Stress Debriefing mitigates stress and prevents Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among emergency services personnel. Critical Incident Stress Debriefing was described as: a psychological debriefing following a particularly difficult emergency, powerful enough to overcome a person's normal ability to cope. A purposive sample of 29 emergency services personnel who had undergone at least one critical incident stress debriefing was selected. An expost facto descriptive design was employed to gain understanding of the effectiveness of this process. A self-designed questionnaire (Symptom Scale of Post Traumatic Stress) with quantitative and qualitative components was completed by the participants. Internal consistency of the instrument, analysis of variance using the Kruskal-Wallis test and descriptive statistics were computed. Content analysis was done on the qualitative data. The data answered the following research questions: 1. What is the effectiveness of critical incident stress debriefing as perceived by emergency services personnel? 2. What is the incidence of post traumatic stress disorder symptoms among four groups of emergency services personnel? 3. Are there differences in post traumatic stress disorder symptoms among four groups of emergency services personnel? Comparisons between groups revealed no statistical difference between nurses, firefighter/paramedics, emergency medical technicians, and law enforcement officers in the incidence of post traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Data indicated the emergency workers experienced few symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder following critical incident stress debriefing. Qualitative data indicated a need for education among emergency workers regarding critical incident stress debriefing. Benefits of critical incident stress debriefing included an opportunity to talk about feelings following a critical incident, a sense of community with other emergency services personnel, and normalization of feelings and symptoms sparked by a critical incident. The results of this study indicate that critical incident stress debriefing appears to be an effective means of mitigating stress and preventing post traumatic stress disorder.
Recommended Citation
McConnell, Deborah L., "Effectiveness of Critical Incident Stress Debriefing As Perceived by Emergency Services Personnel" (1992). Master's Theses (1922-2009) Access restricted to Marquette Campus. 3734.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/theses/3734