Trauma exposure impacts the whole person, as healthcare providers we are not only treating the patient as well as the family. The patient might have obvious physical issues, but they need to be looked at wholistically because in my opinion the psychological and spiritual welling being is almost more important. There can be long term physical ailments but if we ignore the mind and only treat the physical, we are only looking at half of the person. I will apply the trauma informed care principles in all my patient interactions. I think it is important to treat everyone the same and treat them like family. Part of this is addressing their past whether it’s good or bad. I will go into it always assuming that the patient has some form of trauma, personally I believe that everyone has some form whether small or big it doesn’t matter to that person it is a “traumatic” experience and we need to support them in a way that speaks to them the loudest. Long-term impacts of adverse childhood experiences can range from physical to emotional/mental and beyond. A few that come to mind right away are PTSD, anxiety, depression, cardiac issues, diabetes (from unhealthy eating and physical activity habits), as well as skeletal abnormalities. I think as healthcare providers this is one of the most important aspects of our care because it helps us develop trust and rapport with our patients, without trust and rapport there is a significant lack in the healing relationship.
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