Recognising post-traumatic stress in intensive care patients.

'We may not be able to prevent stress or distress, but we can alter the intensity and duration of stress-related trauma by naming our demons, daring to struggle with them, and by creating healing communities.' (Chandler 1992, p 88) In order to create an environment in which the above process can take place it is incumbent upon nurses to assess patients in need and to institute appropriate intervention at an early stage. Critical care nurses have a particular responsibility to identify the seeds of post-traumatic stress and implement supportive and preventive strategies, primarily because of the numbers of traumatised victims passing through their care. Even so, there appears to be a dearth of critical care literature which addresses either assessment or intervention strategies relevant to this important aspect of practice. The purpose of this paper is to highlight aspects of assessment specific to post-traumatic stress through a critical analysis and explanation of its theoretical base. This will act as a precursor to providing direction on possible practice developments.