Secondary Traumatic Stress and Psycho-Spiritual Wellbeing of Emergency Physicians in Abuja, Nigeria

Author

Ogla, Emmanuel Peregrine, Opara Antoinette Ph.D

Abstract

 Burnout among emergency physicians is a global concern, yet the spiritual and existential dimensions of distress captured by constructs such as secondary traumatization remain underexplored in Nigeria. This study investigated secondary traumatic stress (STS) and psycho-spiritual wellbeing among doctors in the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Unit of Abuja University Teaching Hospital (AUTH), Gwagwalada. Employing a mixed-method embedded design, data were collected from 80 doctors through total population sampling, with 74 valid responses (92.5%). Quantitative measures included the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL v5) and the Psycho-Spiritual Wellbeing Scale (P-SWBS), analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression. A qualitative strand comprised semi-structured interviews with five purposively selected doctors, thematically analysed. Results indicated high STS (45.9%), burnout (45.9%), and overall secondary trauma (43.2%). Despite these challenges, 56.8% reported high psycho-spiritual wellbeing, with compassion the strongest domain (M = 4.02) and self-transcendence the weakest (M = 3.47). Secondary trauma correlated negatively with psycho-spiritual wellbeing (r = -0.624, p < .05), while STS and burnout jointly explained 47.7% of its variance (R² = .477), with STS the stronger predictor (β = -0.417). Coping strategies centred on prayer, meaning-making, and peer support, whereas professional counselling was least utilised. Findings suggest that burnout and psycho-spiritual distress are related but distinct phenomena. Addressing workload alone leaves the erosion of meaning, purpose, and spiritual vitality unaddressed. Integrating psycho-spiritual care, structured debriefing, and accessible counselling into Nigeria’s health systems is essential to safeguard the wellbeing of emergency physicians.

Keywords

Burnout; Psycho-spiritual wellbeing; Secondary traumatic stress; Emergency physicians; Nigeria; Spiritual coping; Healthcare policy.

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