Secondary traumatic stress among pediatric nurses: Relationship to peer-organizational support and emotional labor strategies

Background: Even though the cost of caring is acknowledged in multiple helping professions, research into secondary traumatic stress in pediatric nursing remains limited. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of secondary traumatic stress among pediatric nurses and examine its correlation with demographics, perceived organizational support, peer support, and emotional labor strategies. Design and methods: A total of 186 nurses working in a pediatric hospital completed questionnaires addressing secondary traumatic stress, perceived organizational support, peer support, and emotional labor strategies. Through correlational and mediation analyses, we explored the relationships between the study variables. Results: Approximately 77.8% of the pediatric nurses surveyed exhibited moderate to severe secondary traumatic stress. Notably, the level of secondary traumatic stress did not correlate with demographic variables. Increased peer support was significantly associated with a heightened use of all emotional labor strategies (surface acting, deep acting, and natural expression) and with elevated levels of secondary traumatic stress. However, surface acting was the sole mediator of this relationship. Conversely, greater perceived organizational support correlated with decreased levels of surface acting and secondary traumatic stress, with surface acting serving as the mediator. Conclusions: Pediatric nurses are greatly impacted by secondary traumatic stress. Enhancing organizational support and carefully assessing peer support can reduce this, by decreasing nurses' need to suppress or feign genuine emotions. Practice implications: To enhance nurses' psychological well-being, healthcare institutions should raise awareness of secondary traumatization and foster a supportive organizational environment that prioritizes effective team emotional support and evaluates collegial emotional labor.