Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Advisor

Ronnie Hunter

Committee Member

Noel Gray

Committee Member

Kimberly Durham

Keywords

emotional, emergency department, health, mental, nurse, stress, traumatic

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to examine the experiences of emergency department nurses related to emotional and mental health challenges, coping with stress, and ways to provide them with better workplace support. Emergency department nurses are required to work 12-hour shifts in a high-stress environment with a significant patient load and an inadequate patient-to-nurse ratio. Emergency department nurses are exposed daily to patient events that can be traumatic and affect their mental and emotional health, and nurses may find it challenging to cope with the resultant stress.

The researcher created an interview protocol of 14 questions to collect data guided by the research questions. The three research questions asked nurses about components to improve the emergency department environment to support nurses, how they cope with stress after witnessing trauma, and interventions emergency department managers could implement to improve quality of life for emergency department nurses. The interviews were conducted through video with 11 nurses with 1–17 years of experience who previously or currently work in the emergency department. An analysis of the data revealed that each nurse’s experience with job stress, shift work, secondary traumatic stress, posttraumatic stress disorder, and burnout varied based upon the environment of their emergency room, the relationship with management and coworkers, and the magnitude of the nurse’s resilience.

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