Purpose
To examine the effects of a remote videoconferencing-based expressive writing program on the posttraumatic stress, resilience, and posttraumatic growth among traumatized nurses.
Methods
A randomized controlled group study with a pretest-posttest design was adopted. Data were collected between August 18 and November 6, 2020 from 48 nurses who experienced trauma working at a hospital in Jeonbuk Province (24 participants each in the experimental and the control groups). The experimental group participated in six sessions of the expressive writing program following the principles of Pennebaker’s expressive writing. Sessions (duration 90 minutes) were conducted twice a week for three weeks.
Results
Compared with the control group, the experimental group exhibited a statistically significant difference in posttraumatic stress (F=135.41, p<.001), resilience (F=94.88, p<.001), and post-traumatic growth scores (F=109.28, p<.001) immediately following intervention, and these scores were maintained at the 3-week follow-up.
Conclusion
The findings suggest that the expressive writing program can be effectively used for the prevention and management of posttraumatic stress in nurses at a risk of trauma.