… on the second victim effect is needed. … Miller SC; Scott SD; Beck M. …

Clinicians who experience emotional distress after adverse events or medical errors are referred to as second victims. Researchers surveyed health care providers whose career choices were impacted by involvement in an adverse event. In keeping with prior research, respondents reported a lack of support after the event.

Word choice can impact buy-in for programs and integrating concepts across an organization. This review examines the term "second victim" as a label for health professionals involved in adverse events. The authors explore both constructive and negative reactions to the term and suggest that context and culture affect the appropriateness of its use.

This review study examined policies to address the consequences of adverse events for patients, providers, and organizations. The methods included focus groups and a literature review. The team generated recommendations such as involving patients in event investigation, providing time away from usual work for second victims, and establishing a crisis plan for organizations.

… the program to be beneficial. … Merandi J, Liao N, Lewe D, et al. Deployment of a Second Victim Peer Support Program: …

Health care organizations are increasingly recognizing the importance of providing support to second victims. In this survey study, researchers found that when respondents perceived their organization as supportive to second victim distress, they were less likely to express a desire to leave their job or to require time away from work. The authors point out that this is the first study to look at the impact of the second victim experience on work-related outcomes.

The second victim phenomenon describes the distress health care providers can experience after adverse events. This survey of 358 nurses at a single pediatric hospital found that those working in a stronger safety culture were less likely to report distress after involvement in a patient safety event. The authors suggest that bolstering safety culture can help prevent negative effects of second victim experiences.

Health care workers who experience emotional consequences after being involved in a medical error are known as second victims. This commentary reviews the stages of recovery that such health care workers experience, determined by a hospital-based program to provide immediate support for second victims. A PSNet perspective offers insights from one of the authors about this program.

The second victim phenomenon—the damaging psychological impacts of errors on the clinicians who are involved—has been well documented in the literature. This study presents the development and validation of a survey tool, the SVEST, to examine clinicians' experiences with errors and evaluate the effectiveness of approaches to aid second victims.

Focusing on health care providers as the second victims of adverse events, this review explores the prevalence of second victims, the impact of the error, and individual coping strategies.

Rapid response events led by senior residents resulted in similar patient outcomes compared with those run by intensive care unit attending physicians, in this retrospective study at a large academic medical center.

… are discussed in this AHRQ WebM&M perspective . … Seys D, Scott S, Wu A, et al. Int J Nurs Stud. 2013;50:678-687. …

This commentary describes the development of a toolkit to help hospitals create and implement support programs for second victims of medical error.

This commentary reviews a 2010 conference and discusses the history, training mechanisms, education, and role of nursing in rapid response systems.

Rapid response systems (RRS) continue to penetrate hospitals nationally as a method to rescue patients experiencing imminent clinical deterioration. This study takes the same model and describes the context for and development of an innovative RRS to care for the second victim—a health care provider involved in an unanticipated adverse event, medical error, or patient-related injury. The authors surveyed faculty and staff at their institution and found that 39% were familiar with the term second victim and 30% reported personal problems in the past 12 months resulting from their involvement in a patient safety event. More than 80% of respondents expressed a desire for internal rather than external support when needing assistance. Early learnings from a second victim RRS are described, including training of "clinician lifeguards" and monitoring of the interventions. A past AHRQ WebM&M commentary explored how providers recover from their involvement in medical errors.

Rapid response systems serve an important patient safety function in hospitals by helping detect systematic problems in care, and emerging evidence indicates that such teams may improve some clinical outcomes. This study evaluated the views of frontline providers—bedside nurses and resident physicians—toward a rapid response team (RRT). Both groups agreed that the presence of the RRT improved patient safety, and both also felt that the RRT did not adversely affect their educational experience or patient care skills. These findings have been previously demonstrated for nurses. Interestingly, both nurses and residents who had more experience with the RRT felt more positively about its effects. The RRT in this study consisted of a critical care nurse, a respiratory therapist, and a pharmacist with physician backup.

This article describes one hospital’s experience with the development and evaluation of a rapid response team initiative.

This commentary addresses one hospital's redesign of a medical emergency team to shorten the time to antibiotic delivery for patients with suspected sepsis on the hospital wards.