Korean J Occup Health Nurs.  2021 Aug;30(3):132-143. 10.5807/kjohn.2021.30.3.132.

Experiences of Posttraumatic Growth in Firefighters with Repeated Traumatic Events

• Ko Y
• Ha Y

• KMID: 2537003
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5807/kjohn.2021.30.3.132

Abstract

Purpose
The study aimed to explore experiences of the posttraumatic growth (PTG) in firefighters with repeated exposure to traumatic events. Methods: Participants were 11 firefighters from two fire departments, who had experienced more than one critical trauma events. Data were collected through personal interviews from August to October 2020 and analyzed by Colaizzi's phenomenological methods. Results: The PTG experiences were derived into four categories: ‘growth in self-perception’, ‘rediscovery of the meaning of life’, ‘deep interpersonal relationships’, and ‘discovery of the meaning of work’. Conclusion: These findings could be used as basic information for developing PTG program for firefighters such as logo-therapy, semantic therapy, and self-disclosure intervention using expressive writing and speaking.

Keyword

Firefighters; Psychological trauma; Posttraumatic growth; Qualitative research