The current study examined personal and environmental factors that placed 167 U.S. journalists from diverse media organizations at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after covering work-related traumatic stories. These factors included exposure to traumatic stressors in their personal lives, work-related traumatic stressors, and general organizational stressors. Further, personality attributes and coping styles associated with risk and resiliency were examined. Regression analyses identified avoidant emotional coping, higher levels of perceived organizational stressors, intensity of exposure to work-related traumatic stressors, and personal trauma history as statistically significant risk factors for PTSD. The results provide empirical support for the negative impact of organizational stressors and avoidant emotional coping on journalists covering trauma-related stories. Understanding the organizational climate journalists are working in, as well as the manner in which journalists manage work-related stressors, is important in the development of a more comprehensive model of who may develop work-related PTSD symptoms. Opportunities for news organizations to reduce PTSD risk among journalists are discussed.

PURPOSE To identify risk factors in hospitalized children using two validated adult fall risk scales. METHODS For each fall patient identified, a non-fall patient was matched for chronological age and year of hospitalization. The retrospective chart review coded the presence or absence of risk factors and completed both the Morse Fall Scale and Hendrich II Fall Risk Model. FINDINGS Overall, a significant difference was detected between pediatric fallers and non-fallers on the Morse Fall Scale. The Morse Fall Scale's sensitivity, specificity and false positive rate suggested that the scale does little better than chance at detecting true fallers and may inaccurately identify non-fallers as high risk. CONCLUSIONS Episodes of disorientation and fall history were the best predictors of pediatric falls for this sample.