The Role of Trauma-Informed Care in Pediatric Nursing During Disasters: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Children are especially vulnerable during disasters and need particular attention and care. Crisis management is a key challenge in pediatric emergency nursing, involving both rapid medical response and attention to the emotional needs of children and their families. Effective crisis care requires evidence-based strategies informed by psychology, child development, and family-centered approaches. Pediatric emergencies require specialized care due to the unique physiological and psychological characteristics of children. Healthcare providers need specific skills to respond effectively to urgent pediatric crises. Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) is a vital framework in pediatric crisis care that emphasizes understanding the widespread impact of trauma on children. TIC shifts the focus from blaming the child to understanding their experiences, promoting empathy and more effective support during crises. Therefore, this study proposed to determine the role of trauma-informed care in pediatric nursing during disasters. Search Method: A review was performed independently based on the PICO criteria and aligned to the research objective and based on the PRISMA checklist and using PubMed, CINAHL, Medline, Web of Science, SID databases Google Scholar search engine, and Boolean operators. The time limit between ۲۰۲۰ and ۲۰۲۵ was determined using the MESH keywords "trauma-informed care", "nurse", "disaster", "crisis","children" and "pediatric”. After checking the entry and exit criteria and critically evaluating the quality of the selected articles, a total of ۱۲ articles were included in the study. Results: TIC creates a safe environment where children feel secure. Practitioners identify trauma signs and involve children in their care to help them regain control during crises. TIC is essential for ensuring patients' physical and emotional safety. TIC can enhance children's resilience. Lack of TIC in pediatric healthcare may cause significant harm, particularly through retraumatization when children's experiences are overlooked. Conclusion: Broad implementation of TIC supports effective crisis response and mitigates adverse effects in future traumatic events. TIC appears to improve all facets of children's emotional and behavioral wellbeing. Adverse childhood experiences significantly affect children's overall growth and health, with these impacts persisting into adulthood. Implementing a trauma-informed care framework across various healthcare settings is essential to prevent long-term negative outcomes through supportive interventions. Pediatric nurses are encouraged to employ strategies that emphasize patient autonomy, safety, active listening, and shared decision-making to avoid retraumatization and promote healing.

کلیدواژه ها:

trauma-informed care ، nurse ، crisis ، disaster ، children ، pediatric