Advocacy Pathway
Children with Chronic Conditions
Clinical Bioethics
Critical Care
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Health Equity/Social Determinants of Health
Mental Health
Quality Improvement/Patient Safety
Avi Kopstick, MD
Assistant Professor
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, United States
Avi Kopstick, MD
Assistant Professor
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, United States
James Duffee, MD, MPH
Associate Clinical Professor, Pediatrics
Wright State Boonshoft School
Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States
Cydni Williams, MD, MCR
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Oregon Health and Science University
Portland, Oregon, United States
Trevor Hall, PsyD, ABPdN
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Oregon Health and Science University, Oregon, United States
ROBERT MACAULEY, MSt, MDiv, STM, MFA, MD
Professor
OHSU
Portland, Oregon, United States
Psychological trauma arises from physically or emotionally harmful, “life-threatening” events. It can lead to long-lasting effects on a person’s functioning and well-being and has the potential to impact how individuals approach and withstand all future experiences. Patients and family members of patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) often present with varied histories of past trauma, which can be heedlessly triggered by common PICU care. This session will be organized around the SAMHSA’s key elements and principles for making trauma-informed care a universal precaution. We will first define trauma and describe how common reactions to trauma present. Next, we will break into groups to analyze the PICU experience from the perspective of some of our most morally distressing cases. The highly charged environment of the PICU often provides particularly salient examples through which to understand the concepts of trauma, for PICU and non-PICU providers alike. Finally, we will convene to share our insights and formulate a new mission statement to help transform our PICUs into trauma-informed environments. Our main goals are to build stronger therapeutic relationships with our patients and their families and to decrease the effects of secondary trauma that afflict PICU personnel themselves. After the session, we will continue to brainstorm and collaborate on possible research strategies for investigating the effects of and possible mitigating solutions for PICU-induced trauma. Even though we anticipate almost everyone to experience the PICU as stressful and possibly traumatic, that does not mean everyone must be traumatized by their PICU experience.