This book about Stress First Aid (SFA) is a set of practical actions that can help reduce the likelihood that stress reactions will develop into more severe or long-term problems. It can be used by nurses and allied health professionals who experience role exhaustion, loss, trauma exposure, or moral distress-induced stress reactions, to help someone seek other types of support, or for self-care. It fills the gap between actions that build resilience and clinical intervention by promoting early recognition of stress injuries, skills to provide SFA for self and others with stress injuries, and strategies to connect with additional support when needed. Examples and cases are used to provide real-world applications.

The benefits of SFA include:

• Improved overall well-being: SFA can help improve people's overall well-being by reducing stress reactions, enhancing coping strategies, and increasing resilience.

• Enhanced relationships: SFA can help to strengthen relationships by providing people with the skills and tools they need to communicate effectively and support each other during difficult times.

• Increased sense of control: SFA can help people feel more in control of their stress reactions, and more confident in their ability to cope.

• Improved work performance: SFA can help improve work performance by reducing stress, recognizing and addressing organizational stressors, and increasing problem solving. 

• Reduced negative effects of stress by promoting early use of coping supports: SFA can help reduce the negative effects of stress that contribute to physical and mental health problems such as anxiety, PTSD, and depression.

Dr. Richard Westphal is a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner with over 30 years of experience in addressing occupational stress and trauma response in military and health care professionals. He was the co-director of the Wisdom and Wellbeing Program for the University of Virginia Health system with responsibility for program implementation, training, coaching, crisis interventions, and budget execution. He led the development and implementation of the Stress Continuum, Stress First Aid (SFA) intervention, and the Caregiver Occupational Stress Control (CgOSC) for healthcare workers programs for the Department of the Navy from 2007 through 2010. These three frameworks have been adapted for Healthcare, Chaplains and Religious Ministry teams, Fire, EMS, Law Enforcement, Corrections, and community-based mental health teams.

Dr. Patricia Watson is a psychologist for the National Center for PTSD. She has co-authored the Stress First Aid (SFA) model for peer support for military service members, fire/EMS, law enforcement, rail workers, wildland firefighters, pretrial/probation officers, and healthcare workers. She also co-authored the NCPTSD/NCTSN Psychological First Aid (PFA) Field Guide and the Skills for Psychological Recovery (SPR) Manual, designed to intervene in the immediate and intermediate phases after disasters and terrorism, as well as numerous articles, guidance documents, courses, and chapters on disaster mental health, combat and operational stress, military culture, early intervention, provider secondary traumatic stress, and resilience.

Doctors Westphal and Watson have collaborated on numerous SFA training manuals, developed customized SFA training resources for a broad range of first responder and health care professions, and have delivered SFA training globally.