Adverse childhood events (ACEs) are the traumatic events in childhood that increase the risk of negative consequences for physical, mental health, and social problems throughout life. Indeed, children who have been subjected to violence and abuse by parents, relatives, and other adults cause extremely negative consequences (DeNisco & Stewart, 2018). Additionally, it is not necessary to exclude the fact that the diseases and injuries that have been transferred from generation to generation by parents can themselves result in parental practice (Narayan, Lieberman & Masten, 2021). Nurses, in turn, have the opportunity to reduce the risks of traumatic consequences and prevent them entirely – to help “victims” and their families. In order to improve the quality of patient care, nurses are recommended to use the ACEs Pyramid in their activity (DeNisco & Stewart, 2018). It helps to understand possible dangerous cases and eliminate them in the future.
Transgenerational trauma is the process of transferring the trauma experienced by a person from generation to generation. The problem of “transmission of injuries” in generations is relevant from the point of view of scientific and practical significance. A trauma can spread to an individual family member, as well as to individual groups of the population and society as a whole (DeNisco & Stewart, 2018). Both material things and mental elements are transmitted in traditions and customs, behavior, and character traits from one generation to another. The transmitted elements are formed in a person in specific scenarios and subsequently become a mental inheritance and a determining factor in various life situations.
The acquired information is encoded in different modalities – there is a transfer of such elements as history, values and ideals, certain life attitudes, and worldview. For instance, children deprived of love, affection, and attention are more likely to get sick, develop worse and learn new information (DeNisco & Stewart, 2018). Sometimes it is difficult to compensate for such shortcomings, leading to alcoholism, poverty, depression (DeNisco & Stewart, 2018). Then, this set of habits and personal beliefs, developed over the years, is passed on to the next generation. Hence, the experience of trauma by a representative of the previous generation, the degree of its mental elaboration, and the quality and quantity of messages transmitted to the child negatively impact the descendants.
Based upon the Wheeler article, the evidence-based practice should be taught in PMHNP programs for the following reasons. First of all, studying specific problems associated with a number of mental and physical disorders associated with traumatic events will help minimize and eliminate risks to public health (Wheeler, 2018). Secondly, nursing care for victims contributes to preventing physical and emotional diseases and the elimination of adverse events and situations (Wheeler, 2018). Finding out more specific, deep-rooted causes of the “disease” helps eliminate the likelihood of large-scale events, such as terrorism and ill-treatment of people. Nurses will provide a patient who has suffered an injury with the proper support, assistance, and care. They will be able to prevent cases of early mortality caused by “acquired” suicidal tendencies, addictions, and other harmful disorders that pose a potential threat to the health of individuals and the entire society. Thirdly, teaching and training resilience skills in nursing schools can be easily combined with teaching patients these concepts, included in regular healthcare (Wheeler, 2018). Thus, a competent specialist will find out the problem “from the inside” at the initial stages for more competent treatment and prevention of post-traumatic cases.
References
DeNisco, S.M., & Stewart, J.G. (2018). Section two: Overview of select special populations, direct care, and access. In S.M. DeNisco & J.G. Stewart (Eds.), Role development for the nurse practitioner (2nd ed, pp. 63–66). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Narayan, A. J., Lieberman, A. F., & Masten, A. S. (2021). Intergenerational transmission and prevention of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Clinical Psychology Review, 85.
Wheeler, K. (2018). A call for trauma competencies in nursing education. Journal of the American. Psychiatric Nurses Association, 24(1), pp. 20–22.