Healthcare providers may experience emotional distress after involvement in an adverse or traumatic event. This qualitative study with 198 healthcare professionals identified common emotions experienced after adverse events as well as the types of support needed after involvement in an adverse event. These findings can contribute to the development and refinement of support programs for healthcare workers after adverse events.

Medical errors can have emotional consequences for clinicians. This commentary emphasizes the importance of organizational support for second victims to ensure that these providers receive assistance from their colleagues to remain healthy and productive. The authors suggest that peer support programs are also required in organizations with blame-free cultures to support providers who feel guilt after an error.

… the International Society for Quality in Health Care … Int J Qual Health Care … Incident reporting systems have been …

… practitioners about reported patient safety incidents. … Lamont T, Scarpello J. National Patient Safety Agency: combining stories with …

The authors of this study characterized the attributable mortality rate from anesthesia by examining the records of more than 33,000 patients receiving anesthesia during a 10-year period. Cases are categorized by the type of anesthesia given, the number of deaths recorded, and the characteristics of the patients and their indicated procedure. The authors conclude that the physical condition of patients relates most closely to the contribution of anesthesia to death. When deaths were related to the use of muscle relaxants, errors of omission or commission were always noted to be present.