Trauma-informed care (TIC) is a patient-centered approach to healthcare that calls on health professionals to provide care in a way that prevents re-traumatization of patients and staff. TIC is applied universally regardless of trauma disclosure. Grounded in an understanding of the impact of trauma on patients and the workforce, TIC is conceptualized as a lens through which policy and practice are reviewed and revised to ensure settings and services are safe and welcoming for both patients and staff. The TIC framework is being implemented in healthcare and should be incorporated in daily practice, especially in nursing. Nurses have ample opportunities to influence the experience of patients and colleagues, and nursing is a critical field in which to introduce a trauma-informed approach. However, TIC implementation can be challenging if it’s unclear what to do. This article discusses trauma-informed care, and TIC in healthcare and provides strategies for trauma-informed nursing practice, followed by organizational considerations for the nursing workforce.

In this chapter we highlight findings and practices from Psychology that can be applied to mitigate the impact of critical illness and the ICU environment on patients, families and staff. The substantial accumulating evidence for detrimental health effects of traumatic stress is highly relevant for the care of patients on the ICU, who are potentially traumatized by the experience and who may bring a history of trauma with them. The fields of trauma psychology and rehabilitation psychology share foundational principles to guide patient-centered and systemic changes to ICU care, and these principles guided our selection and presentation of material. Our discussion of how to implement these principles within a healthcare system is informed by selected findings from social, organizational and behavioral psychology, which also are summarized.