Professional Education

Nursing Grand Rounds

Trauma-Informed Self-Care for Psychiatric Nurses

Presentation

Psychiatric nurses experience trauma too! This interactive session applies the principles of trauma-informed care inward, helping participants develop personalized self-care plans that foster resilience, sustainability, and professional longevity—especially in high stress, trauma-exposed environments.

Presentation Objectives

  1. Verbalize the impacts of trauma and the principles of trauma-informed care.
  2. Relate the principles of trauma-informed care to self-care practices.
  3. Develop a personalized trauma-informed self-care plan that integrates awareness of trauma exposure and applies trauma-informed principles to support ongoing professional resilience and effectiveness.

 

While both in-person and virtual attendance options are available, you are encouraged to attend in-person to benefit from the interactive portion of this presentation.

Presenter

  • 191205 Portrait DavidVanderArk RM 0651 (1)

    Dave Vander Ark, DNP, MSN, RN, PMH-BC

    Dave Vander Ark has worked as a nurse in both inpatient and outpatient psychiatric-mental health settings for over 35 years. His master’s degree is a clinical specialty in psychiatric-mental health nursing with a focus on nursing education. His doctoral degree is in health systems leadership, focusing on improving behavioral health delivery in primary care settings. He has had formal teaching positions as a staff educator at Pine Rest, nursing professor at Montcalm Community College, and professional development specialist at Trinity Health Grand Rapids, where he onboarded new nurses as well as taught nursing staff across multiple clinical areas. He was an adjunct clinical instructor for Kirkhof College of Nursing at Grand Valley State University for 15 years, and transitioned to a full-time faculty role in 2019. His scholarly interests include Adverse Childhood Experiences, stigma, improving nursing education, and the importance of self-care in developing resilience.

Location Details

Thursday, 06/18/2026
From 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm

Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services is approved as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by Wisconsin Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation