True partnership with patients and families in safety work is an important yet elusive goal. This commentary outlines elements supporting engagement as part of an ambitious global plan and awareness campaign to ensure medical error reduction efforts are fully informed and enriched through the application of the patient and family experience in health care.

‘Second victim’ is controversial term used to describe health care professionals who experience continuing psychological harm after involvement in a medical error or adverse event. In this study, an expert panel reviewed existing definitions of ‘second victim’ in the literature and proposed a new consensus-based definition.

… as one key component of good quality care. … Hannawa AF, Wu AW, Kolyada A, et al. The aspects of healthcare quality …

… learning format. … Gleason KT, Commodore-Mensah Y, Wu AW, et al. Massive open online course (MOOC) learning …

… these practitioners to provide the safest care possible. … Wu AW, Vincent C, Shapiro DW, et al. Mitigating the July …

Clinicians involved in unexpected patient outcomes can experience negative emotions and frequently need access to second victim support programs. This systematic review describing 12 second victim support programs identifies staff benefits, implementation challenges, and experiences of peer supporters. Affected staff and peer supporters reported the benefits of the programs. Challenges included blame culture, limited awareness of program existence, and lack of financial resources. Findings indicate a need for implementing new second victim support programs, promoting current programs, and monitoring peer supporters’ well-being.

… to the use of organization support programs. … Edrees HH, Wu AW. Does one size fit all? Assessing the need for …

… empowerment.   … Connors CA, Dukhanin V, Norvell M, et al. RISE: exploring volunteer retention and …

… safety and quality due to the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., failures in infection prevention and control, … the safety and well-being of health care workers. … Wu AW, Sax H, Letaief M, et al. COVID-19: the dark side and the sunny side for …

… protective equipment (PPE), supporting basic daily needs (e.g., provision of in-hospital food stores), ensuring … , promoting wellness, and showing gratitude for staff. … Wu AW, Buckle P, Haut ER, et al. Supporting the emotional well-being of …

This study randomized primary care practices across ten health care systems to evaluate the effectiveness of a multifactorial intervention to prevent falls with injury, which included risk assessment and individualized plans administered by specially trained nurses. The intervention did not result in a significantly lower rate of serious fall injury compared to usual care.

In this literature review, the authors identified patient-, clinician-, and institutional-level barriers to patient involvement in patient safety investigations. Potential strategies for overcoming barriers are also discussed, such as adopting a blame-free climate and enhancing clinician training in error disclosure and communication.

To address the negative psychological impacts faced by healthcare workers during the COVID-19 crisis, the authors of this commentary recommend three strategic principles for healthcare institutions responding to the pandemic: Encourage leadership to focus on resilience  Ensure that crisis communication provides both information and empowerment Create a continuum of staff support within the organization to address a surge in mental health concerns among healthcare workers.

… (4) directed leadership to implement successful change. … Wu AW, Dzau VJ. What can patient safety teach us about …

Adverse events can have significant psychological impacts on the providers involved and involvement in medical errors can increase risk of burnout among second victims. This study describes the nurse utilization of the Resilience in Stressful Events (RISE) peer support program. The authors found high awareness of the program among nurses, but low utilization. Nurses who had used the program reported greater resilience, but more burnout than those who had not.

Root cause analysis is a fundamental approach to understanding how failures occur, but some have questioned its effectiveness in health care. This review highlights alternative approaches to incident analysis that address some of the concerns with root cause analysis, such as time commitment and lack of follow up.

… care workers after medical errors. A PSNet interview with Albert Wu , who coined the term second victim , discussed approaches …

Disclosing medical errors to patients and families is considered essential for maintaining a therapeutic relationship and a core tenet of medical professionalism, but less is known about the impact of disclosure on malpractice claims and compensation. In this study, researchers sought to understand the effect of state legislation requiring disclosure of serious events to patients. Using data from a single, large health care system, they found that although the number of serious event disclosures increased between May 2002—the year the legislation was enacted—and June 2011, the rate of malpractice claims remained stable. Claims that were disclosed and claims that involved greater harm were associated with increased compensation. An accompanying editorial highlights some of the advantages of comprehensive disclosure programs.

After being involved in adverse events, health care workers can experience burnout and reduced job satisfaction. Researchers evaluated a second victim support program for nurses and found the initiative to be well-liked and effective in promoting a more robust culture of safety.

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.