Which healthcare settings are workers most exposed to repeated trauma exposure?

• A. Emergency department, ICU, pediatric ICU, trauma units, oncology and palliative care
• B. Primary care clinics
• C. Administrative offices
• D. Radiology labs

Answer: (C)

Repeated trauma exposure means regularly encountering other people’s traumatic experiences in the course of work, which over time can lead to vicarious or secondary trauma. In many healthcare settings, administrative staff process a high volume of cases across multiple departments—handling admissions, referrals, charts, billing, and communications. Each of these tasks can involve hearing or reading about serious injuries, life-threatening illnesses, or end-of-life decisions. Because it’s a steady stream rather than a single event, the emotional impact accumulates, even if the staff aren’t directly providing bedside care. Support systems like debriefing, access to counseling, and manageable workloads are essential to counteract this risk.

Frontline areas like emergency departments or intensive care units certainly deal with acute crises, but the exposure is episodic, tied to specific events. Administrative roles, by contrast, can entail chronic exposure to distressing patient stories and trauma-related details across many cases, making repeated trauma exposure a particularly salient risk in those settings. Recognizing this helps explain why workplace wellness and trauma-informed supports should extend beyond direct clinical teams to include administrative and support staff.